The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confirmed in a report today that its investigators have found “reasonable evidence” that the Syrian regime was behind the 2018 chlorine attack against Douma that killed 43 people. in a statement that “there are reasonable grounds to believe that” at least one Syrian Air Force Mi-8/17 helicopter dropped two poison gas canisters on the town of Douma during the war in Syria.
Damascus and its ally Moscow have previously said the attack was carried out by rescuers ordered by the US, who joined the UK and France in airstrikes against Syria a few days later.
The Duma case sparked controversy after leaked classified documents from two former employees that cast doubt on the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’s previous findings regarding the 2018 attack were leaked to the public.
But the organization said its investigators “studied a number of possible scenarios” and concluded that “this attack was carried out by the Syrian Air Force” in Douma on April 7, 2018.
“The use of chemical weapons in Douma – and anywhere else – is unacceptable and a violation of international law,” OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias said.
“Now the world knows the facts. The international community must act.”
The organization stated that “at least one Syrian Arab Republic Air Force Mi-8/17 helicopter that took off from Dumair Air Base and operated under the control of the Tiger Forces dropped two yellow canisters” on April 7, 2018.
According to the organization, two canisters were aimed at two residential buildings in the center of Duma.
His report stated that the first cylinder “disintegrated and quickly released a very high concentration of toxic chlorine gas, which quickly spread inside the building, killing 43 people and injuring dozens.”
The second cylinder crashed into the apartment and slowly released some chlorine, “which had little effect on those who arrived first”.
Investigators reviewed 70 environmental and medical samples, 66 witness statements and other data, including forensic analysis, satellite imagery, propagation modeling and trajectory modeling.
At the time, opposition groups were in control of Duma, and Syrian troops launched a major offensive to recapture the city near the capital Damascus.
Aid workers said at the time they were treating people with breathing problems, foaming at the mouth and other symptoms.
After delays, OPCW investigators visited the site of the attack several times and concluded that chlorine had been used, but at the time they did not have the authority to determine who they believed was behind the attack.
But thanks to new laws opposed by Syria and Russia, the organization can now point the finger, in this case at Damascus.
“There are sufficient grounds to believe that the chemical attack in Douma on April 7, 2018 was carried out by the Air Force of the Syrian Arab Republic,” the organization said in a statement.
Damascus accused dissidents and aid workers of carrying out the attack when they brought in and photographed dead bodies or claimed that a chemical weapons plant run by Islamist extremists had been bombed.
However, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons confirmed that its team “accurately followed the lines of investigation and scenarios proposed by the Syrian authorities and other participating States, but was unable to obtain any specific information to support them.”
And she expressed “regret” that Syria denied her deeper access to the site to complete the investigation.
The report refutes claims by its former inspectors, who previously said the organization changed its original findings in 2018 to make evidence of a chemical attack more compelling.
She added that the basis for “reasonable justification” is “the standard of proof consistently adopted by international fact-finding bodies and commissions of inquiry.”
Damascus denies using chemical weapons and insists it handed over its stockpiles as part of a deal struck in 2013 after an alleged sarin attack killed 1,400 people in Ghouta.
