OPCW confirms the use of chlorine in Syria’s Hama
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – The Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), issued yesterday its report confirming the use of the toxic chlorine as a weapon in an air strike that targeted the city of Kafr Zeita in the northern countryside of Hama, north Syria on 1 October 2016.
“On 2 October 2016, open sources broadcasted reports of the alleged use of toxic chemicals as a weapon in Kafr Zeita on 1 October 2016. The reported incident involved two industrial chlorine cylinder ‘barrels’ containing toxic gas near a field hospital. Approximately 20 individuals suffered from suffocation and breathing difficulties,” the report said.
The FFM was able to conduct interviews with witnesses and obtain digital evidence, and it managed to obtain one of the industrial chlorine cylinders retrieved from the incident location in Kafr Zeita, according to the report.
The FFM observed that the industrial cylinder was engraved with markings reading “CL2”, the molecular formula for chlorine gas.
The FFM report was shared with States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention. The report will also be transmitted to the United Nations Security Council through the UN Secretary-General.
At that time, the city was under the control of the Syrian opposition factions and was repeatedly hit with airstrikes by the Syrian government forces.
Supported by Russian air, the government forces took control of the city of Kafr Zeita and other nearby cities in the northern countryside of Hama in mid-August of 2019, after besieging it and forcing the Syrian opposition factions to withdraw from it.