Preliminary analysis by the world’s chemical weapons watchdog found chlorine was used in an attack in Douma, Syria, in April that killed dozens of civilians and prompted air strikes by Britain, France and the United States, it said Friday.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons sent a fact-finding mission to Douma in mid-April, roughly a week after the attack in the enclave near Damascus. “Various chlorinated organic chemicals were found in samples” from two locations, the report said. It said it found no evidence of nerve agents.
In Douma, OPCW inspectors visited two sites and interviewed witnesses and took samples, which were split at their laboratory in the Netherlands and forwarded to affiliated national labs. Two samples recovered from gas cylinders tested positive for chlorine, the report said.
Washington and other Western governments blamed Syrian government forces for the attack in Douma. The Syrian regime denies using chemical weapons during the country’s long civil war.
Reuters
Reuters
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