Syria

Two cylinders seized by Syria forces contained sarin: UN

370388_Syria-militants

Two cylinders seized by the Syrian government troopers in an area held by foreign-backed militant groups contained deadly sarin, the UN has confirmed.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a letter to the UN Security Council, which was published on Monday, that the Joint Mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations (OPCW-UN) overseeing the elimination of Syria’s chemical stockpile analyzed the contents of the cylinders on June 14.

“The Joint Mission confirmed that these (cylinders) contained sarin,” read Ban’s letter, adding that the containers were “reportedly seized by the armed forces of the Syrian Arab Republic in August 2013 in an area” under the control of militant groups.

OPCW chief Ahmet Uzumcu said in a report attached to Ban’s letter that the Syrian government told the organization “the items did not belong to it.”

Under a deal reached last September between Russia and the United States ,
Syria handed over the final consignment of its declared 1,300 tons of chemicals on June 23. The toxins have been removed from Syria for annihilation at sea or in other countries.

The deal followed the threat of military action against Syria after foreign-backed opposition forces accused the government of President Bashar al-Assad of launching a chemical attack on militant strongholds in the suburbs of the capital, Damascus, on August 21, 2013.
Damascus vehemently denied the accusation, saying the attack was carried out by the militants themselves to draw in foreign military intervention.

Back to top button