TASS-DOSIER. A number of Western states accused the Syrian authorities of using chemical weapons on April 7 in the city of Duma in Eastern Ghouta. The non-governmental organization White Helmets made a statement about the use of chlorine. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation called this message "information stuffing." The TASS-DOSIER editors have prepared material on how the Syrian government army was accused of chemical attacks over civil war in this country.
2012-2013
The first allegations of the use of chemical weapons (CW) against the government of Bashar al-Assad were made in December 2012. Then the Syrian opposition said that in the suburbs of the city of Homs - al-Baida - six people were killed as a result of a chemical attack by government forces. Then 18 more cases of use of chemical weapons (CW) in Syria were announced. In particular, according to media reports, on August 21, 2013, in the densely populated suburb of Damascus - Eastern Ghouta, as a result of shelling, containing the nerve gas sarin, from 300 to 1,700 people were killed. Both the Syrian authorities and the opposition denied accusations of using chemical weapons, blaming each other.
Experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) were unable to establish the involvement of either side in chemical attacks in Eastern Ghouta, but Western countries blamed the use of chemical weapons on the regime of Bashar al-Assad. US President Barack Obama said that the use of chemical weapons by Syria is considered by Washington as crossing the "red line", in connection with which the international community is obliged to take action against this country. The crisis was resolved thanks to the intervention of Russia, which proposed a plan for the elimination of the Syrian CW under international control. In September 2013, Syria acceded to the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, declaring 1.3 thousand tons of toxic substances (CW). In June 2014, these stocks were taken out of the country and disposed of.
2017
On April 4, 2017, in the city of Khan Sheikhoun in the south of the province of Idlib (a settlement under the control of the Jabhat Fath ash-Sham group, the old name is Jabhat al-Nusra, banned in the Russian Federation), as a result of a chemical attack, 84 people were killed and more than 500 were injured US President Donald Trump called the incident a "challenge to humanity" and blamed the bombing on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. On April 7, 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from American ships in the Mediterranean at the Shayrat government air base in Homs province, from which, according to the Pentagon, Syrian Air Force planes took off to attack Khan Sheikhoun. Syrian authorities have denied involvement in the incident in Idlib, saying that the chemical attack was fabricated by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham militants. Syria and Russia invited international experts to visit Khan Sheikhoun and the Shayrat air base to analyze the situation and draw up reports on the incident, but this offer was not taken up.
In October, the State Department acknowledged that fighters from the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist coalition, which includes Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, are using chemical weapon on the territory of Syria. Information about this appeared on the agency's website in a message explaining why US residents should not visit the Arab Republic.
On October 27, a report of the UN-OPCW Joint Investigation Mechanism (UN JIM-OPCW) was circulated to members of the UN Security Council, blaming government forces for the attack in Khan Sheikhoun (previously, on September 6, such a statement was made by the Commission to Investigate Crimes in Syria) . Representatives of Russia to the UN and the Russian Foreign Ministry criticized the experts for their unwillingness to visit the scene of the incident and conduct an investigation in remote mode using data from anonymous sources. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation cited evidence testifying to the inconsistency of the version of the UN JIM-OPCW.
2018
On March 6, the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry into Violations of Human Rights again accused the Syrian authorities of using chemical weapons against the armed opposition, in particular, in July 2017 in Eastern Ghouta and in November of the same year in the area of the city of Harasta (Damascus province). On March 14, the Syrian military discovered a laboratory for the production of poisonous substances in the village of Ash-Chifonia in Eastern Ghouta. It was located on territory controlled by the "moderate" militant group Jaish al-Islam.
On April 4, at least 150 people were killed, including dozens of children, as a result of the use of a chemical warfare agent near the city of Khan Sheikhoun, in the province of Idlib, according to the Al Jazeera TV channel (earlier it was reported about 60 dead). Hundreds of people were hospitalized with signs of poisoning, reports the monitoring group The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Initially it was stated that chlorine gas was used. However, the doctors who assisted the victims believe that this is a different poisonous substance. “A blow was dealt with the use of some chemical. It's not chlorine. This patient does not smell of chlorine. It's not chlorine gas. We have seen many chlorine attacks. This patient has clear small pupils, ”Euronews quotes one of the British doctors working in the province of Idlib.
Muhammad Rashid, a spokesman for the Jaish al-Nasr group affiliated with the Syrian Free Army, said that 26 air strikes were carried out in the city on the morning of April 4, after which people began to choke, some foamed at the mouth.
The Syrian opposition blamed Bashar al-Assad's army and the Russian military for the use of poisonous substances, linking the airstrikes to a chemical attack.
However, the command of the Syrian army categorically denied these accusations. On the website of the state agency SANA, a statement was published by the General Staff of the Syrian army, in which responsibility for the chemical attack is assigned to “terrorist groups”. AT official statement it is stated that the Syrian army has never used and does not intend to use chemical weapons in the course of hostilities.
The Russian authorities also denied allegations that Russian military aviation was involved in a chemical attack in Idlib. The statement of the Russian Ministry of Defense, which was quoted by the RIA Novosti agency, said: “Aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces did not carry out any strikes in the area of the settlement of Khan Sheikhun, Idlib province. The British agency Reuters, reporting on the involvement of Russian aircraft in the bombing of Khan Sheikhoun with chemical munitions, managed to distort even the original source of this news - the British Observatory for Human Rights in Syria, which did not state anything about it.
Later, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that Syrian aircraft struck in the outskirts of the village of Khan Sheikhun at the terrorists' ammunition depot, where there were arsenals with chemical weapons that the militants delivered to Iraq.
On April 5, the press service of the Russian Embassy in Israel, in connection with reports that appeared in the Israeli media about the incident with poisonous substances in Khan Sheikhoun, circulated statement text the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov, who says: “According to Russian funds objective control of the airspace yesterday in the period from 11.30 to 12.30 local time, Syrian aircraft struck in the eastern outskirts of the settlement. Khan Sheikhoun on a large terrorist ammunition depot and a cluster of military equipment. On the territory of this warehouse there were workshops for the production of land mines filled with poisonous substances. From this largest arsenal, ammunition with chemical weapons was delivered by militants to the territory of Iraq. Their use by terrorists has been repeatedly proven by both international organizations and the official authorities of this country. These munitions with poisonous substances were also used by militants in the Syrian Aleppo, when their use was recorded at the end of last year by Russian military experts. The symptoms of the poisoning of the victims in Khan Sheikhoun on video frames on social networks are exactly the same as they were in the fall of last year among the victims in Aleppo. Then all the facts of the use of chemical weapons in Syria, along with soil samples, were recorded and transferred to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. However, the experts of this international organization, who received all the materials and samples proving the use of poisonous substances by terrorists in Syria, are still studying them. We affirm that the information provided is completely objective and reliable.”
Thus, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation actually claims that the Syrian military knew that poisonous substances were stored in the warehouses of terrorists in Khan Sheikhoun and purposefully attacked these warehouses, despite the fact that such an airstrike posed an obvious threat to the lives of civilians.
The White House blamed the Syrian government for the chemical attack in the province of Idlib and said that this was made possible because of the "weakness and indecision" of the Obama administration. This statement was made by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who, however, refused to answer a question from journalists about what President Donald Trump intends to do in connection with the tragic events in Syria.
The US State Department issued an official statement strongly condemning the use of chemical weapons in Idlib. The State Department accused Bashar al-Assad of "brutal and shameless barbarism." “Those who defend and support him, including Russia and Iran, should have no illusions about Assad or his intentions,” the statement said. Washington blamed the tragedy on Moscow and Tehran, as the guarantors of the ceasefire in Syria.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, many ministers and party leaders have strongly condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Netanyahu called on the international community to clean Syria of chemical weapons.
Many organizations condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria, including the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas, which are recognized as terrorist groups in the US, the EU and Israel.
The United States, France and the United Kingdom have submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council in connection with reports of the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Idlib. This document requires Damascus to cooperate with international investigators and threatens the country with sanctions in the event of a new use of poisonous substances.
In 2013, the Obama administration announced its readiness to launch a military operation against the Assad regime in connection with the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian military against civilians, but Russia proposed a plan to transfer Syria's chemical weapons arsenals to international control and further destroy these toxic substances. The Americans abandoned the military operation against Assad. In several stages, an operation was carried out to remove and dispose of Syrian chemical weapons. In August 2014, the Pentagon announced the completion of the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons. However, the Israeli authorities have stated that not all Syrian chemical weapons have been destroyed. In 2014-2017, human rights organizations published dozens of reports about the use of poisonous substances in Syria, some of these publications were confirmed by UN experts. Judging by the available information, both the Syrian military and radical opposition groups used chemical weapons.
The Syrian army could use sarin against civilians, but this information has not been conclusively confirmed, two US officials shared their version with CNN. According to them, the assumption is based on in large numbers victims and symptoms in victims.
Confirm the use of Sarin in Khan Sheikhoun can only chemical analysis, since sarin has no color and no obvious smell, told RBC former member UN Commission on Biological and Chemical Weapons Igor Nikulin. “The carrier can be anything - these are chemical bombs industrial production, and makeshift mines, cylinders with a fuse, ”explains the expert.
If evidence is provided that these are industrially produced shells, with terminals and stamps, we can say that this is the work of the Syrian government army. Otherwise, Nikulin points out, it will be a handicraft production of the opposition.
government traces
As a representative of the non-governmental Syrian Civil Defense (the organization is better known as the White Helmets) told the opposition media center in Idlib, Khan Sheikhoun was attacked by government aircraft. Four rockets were fired, including one with BOV, at residential areas in the north of the city in the early morning, around seven o'clock.
A source in American intelligence told Reuters about the evidence of the involvement of the Syrian Armed Forces. The attack has "signs of action" from the Assad government, he said. “If the Assad regime is indeed responsible for this attack, then, based on the available data, this incident could be the largest such attack since the August 2013 attack in the suburbs of Damascus,” an intelligence official told Reuters.
The administration of US President Donald Trump also blamed the Assad regime for the chemical attack, calling the actions of government forces "disgusting." White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said on Tuesday that the United States is working to establish the circumstances of the incident, but the US administration sees this as a trace of the actions of the Syrian regime. He also noted that the attack was "a consequence of the weak and indecisive" policy of the Obama administration, which in 2012 promised to draw a red line against the use of chemical weapons, but did nothing.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said both rebel commanders and weapons experts agree that the this moment evidence indicates that the attack was carried out by Syrian government forces, according to the BBC.
The city of Khan Sheikhoun is located in the southern part of the province of Idlib. It is controlled by the opposition, including the moderate Ahrar ash-Sham group. From the city the opposition is conducting offensive operations in the province of Hama. Thanks to the recent successes of the opposition groups, the front line has moved several tens of kilometers away from the city. The armed forces of the group in the region, according to the Financial Times, amount to up to 25 thousand people. Earlier, Ahrar al-Sham joined the truce announced in 2016 in Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
US Representative to the UN Nikki Haley shows photos of Syrian chemical attack victims (Photo: Bebeto Matthews/AP)
Russia and Syria deny
Syrian army in an official statement released news agency SANA, denied the involvement of government aircraft in the chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun. According to the military, the army has never used chemical or toxic substances and "won't do that in the future." The arguments and photographs provided by the opposition were called "false accusations" by government troops.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that Russian aircraft did not participate in the attack on the city. According to the official version of the military department, presented on Wednesday by Major General Igor Konashenkov, there was a large opposition ammunition depot in Khan Sheikhoun. According to the Ministry of Defense, on the territory of the military warehouse hit by Syrian aircraft, “there were workshops for the production of land mines filled with poisonous substances.” These shells were later to be transported to the territory of Iraq, the representative of the military department summed up. Konashenkov could not confirm the information about the ammunition depot using aerial photography data.
“In the period from 11:30 to 12:30 local time, Syrian aircraft attacked a large terrorist ammunition depot and a cluster of military equipment in the area of the eastern outskirts of the Khan Sheikhun settlement,” Interfax reports Konashenkov’s words.
The time given by the Russian Ministry of Defense contradicts the data of the White Helmets and the testimony of eyewitnesses interviewed by The New York Times of the attack. They told the publication that the air raids began around seven in the morning. A few hours later, according to witnesses, Syrian aircraft attacked one of the clinics where the victims were receiving health care. The wounded were taken to small hospitals and private clinics as the area's main hospital was severely damaged in a bombing raid two days earlier, according to the newspaper.
The UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have found no evidence that the chemical weapons incident in the city of Khan Sheikhoun was the result of an air strike, UN High Representative for Disarmament Kim Won-soo said on Wednesday during his speech at the meeting of the Security Council. “According to reports, the attack was carried out from the air and hit a residential area. However, it is impossible to confirm with certainty how the alleged attack was carried out at this stage, ”he said (quoted by TASS).
He also said that the OPCW Fact-Finding Mission, as well as the UN-OPCW Joint Mechanism to Investigate Chemical Attacks in Syria, have begun collecting information on the incident. Kim Won-su assured that both organizations will provide an "independent and impartial" investigation into what happened in the province of Idlib.
One of the leaders of the Syrian opposition, Hassan Haj Ali, commander of the Free Army of Idlib group, denied the statements of the Russian Ministry of Defense that the Syrian Air Force allegedly struck a large opposition ammunition depot, the Arab agency The New Khalij reported. He stated that the civilian population knows that the armed opposition has no headquarters or any production facilities in this area. He also added that all opposition formations taken together are incapable of producing such substances.
Resolution of Discord
On Tuesday, the United States, Britain and France in the UN Security Council a draft resolution on the alleged attack in Syria, as reported by Reuters, citing diplomats. According to the agency, all three countries consider the Assad regime guilty of what happened.
According to the draft resolution, the Syrian government should provide the Security Council with flight plans and records made on the day of the alleged attack, and the names of the commanders of the crews who carried out the sorties. In addition, the initiators of the resolution demand that international inspectors be provided with access to the air base, from where government aircraft took off. Voting on the resolution may take place as early as Wednesday, April 5, sources from the agency indicate. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that the draft document is "anti-Syrian in nature."
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on Assad's allies Russia and Iran to "influence the Syrian regime and ensure that this kind of horrific attack never happens again." “Russia and Iran also bear a great moral responsibility for these deaths,” he added.
“International law prohibits the use, production and possession of any chemical weapon. Therefore, any use is considered as an international crime,” notes the professor of the department international law MGIMO Dmitry Labin. He emphasizes that in order to name those responsible, the international community must first create an independent expert group that will investigate and establish the fact of the crime committed.
Chemical weapons in Syria
The production of poisonous substances in Syria, according to non-governmental organizations and the CIA, began in the 1970s and 1980s with the participation of French organizations and specialists.
The largest chemical weapons attack took place on 21 August 2013 in East Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus. According to various sources, from 280 to 1,700 people were killed as a result of shelling with sarin nerve warheads. UN inspectors were able to establish that surface-to-ground missiles with sarin were used in this place, and they were used by the Syrian military.
After the attack, the then President of the United States, Barack Obama, announced the possibility of sending troops to Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin responded with a plan to destroy chemical weapons in Syria. After that, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution No. 2118 on the destruction of Syrian chemical weapons. On October 14, 2013, Syria acceded to the Chemical Weapons Convention.
In October 2013, under the supervision of UN experts and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the destruction of Syrian chemical weapons began. The expert group consisted of representatives from Russia, the United States, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Uzbekistan, China, Canada, the Netherlands and Tunisia. On June 23, 2014, the OPCW announced the removal of the last batch of chemical weapons from Syria.
However, after that in Syria, the UN and the OPCW used chemical weapons by the Syrian military. For example, Syrian troops used chemical weapons on March 16, 2015 in locality Caminas in the province of Idlib. In another five cases, the organizer of the attack could not be identified.
