Syria chemical weapons inspectors shelter in Damascus after surviving ambush
The OPCW inspectors were investigating recent claims that the Syrian regime used chlorine gas on a rebel-held town. Although the chemical is not outright banned, its use in weapons is.
The OPCW inspectors were investigating recent claims that the Syrian regime used chlorine gas on a rebel-held town. Although the chemical is not outright banned, its use in weapons is.
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An international team investigating reports of chlorine attacks in Syria is in Damascus after surviving an ambush in rebel-held territory on Tuesday.
Both the Syrian regime and rebel groups blamed each other for the attack, underscoring their bitter enmity and the difficulty of conducting international missions in Syria. The incident occurred less than a week before Syria's June 3 presidential election. 聽
The inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons聽were on a fact-finding mission to rebel-controlled Kafr Zita, where opposition groups accuse the regime of using chlorine gas against rebels and locals. The first vehicle in their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb, according to a press release from the organization:
The OPCW reports that it had negotiated a cease-fire between the regime and rebel groups before the fact-finding trip. After the ambush their inspectors were 鈥渂riefly detained by some gunmen,鈥� but released after 鈥渢he intervention of the main opposition group with whom the ceasefire security arrangements had been negotiated,鈥� the group says.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry first reported the attack and said that 鈥渢errorist groups,鈥� a reference to rebel groups, had kidnapped the inspectors. Antigovernment groups responded that the government staged the attack so that the OPCW investigators would not reach the town, The New York Times reports.
The Violation Documentation Center, a Syrian NGO that monitors human rights abuses, has documented at least 14 suspected chemical attacks this year, reported 海角大神鈥檚 Nicholas Blanford. This includes a 鈥渟ignificant increase in April from explosive barrels dropped from helicopters,鈥� many of which allegedly contained chlorine gas:
The Chemical Weapons Convention does not specifically ban chlorine, a common industrial chemical, but its use as a weapon is outlawed under the convention鈥檚 鈥済eneral purpose criterion,鈥� reports Mr. Blanford.