Chemical weapons inspectors visit second site in Syria town
READ MORE
Beirut: Chemical weapons inspectors collected samples on Wednesday from a new location in the Syrian town of Douma, their second visit to the area that was hit by a suspected gas attack nearly three weeks ago.
The Organisation of the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said samples taken by the team in Douma will be sent to the organisation’s laboratories for analysis. An earlier visit took place on Saturday after the inspectors were delayed for days from getting to the town, just east of Damascus, over security reasons.
Replay
The United States, France, and Britain have blamed President Bashar al-Assad’s government for the April 7 attack, which Syrian activists said killed more than 40 people. The three countries struck suspected Syrian chemical weapons facilities in joint airstrikes a week later.
The OPCW visit to Douma and sample collection would allow the international watchdog to proceed with an independent investigation to determine what chemicals, if any, were used in the attack.
The watchdog is not mandated to apportion blame for the attack. The mandate of a joint UN-OPCW body delegated to investigate who may be behind such attacks has expired and Russia has vetoed its renewal. The joint body had found the Syrian government responsible for several previous attacks.
Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sbsnews-topstories/~3/zswKtv3kwwo/casualties-taliban-suicide-bomber-attacks-nato-convoy-kandahar
Comments
Post a Comment