Investigation finds Syria likely behind 2018 chlorine attack

OPCW watchdog says Syrian air force likely dropped chlorine gas in a barrel bomb on the city of Saraqeb in 2018.

The global chemical weapons watchdog has “reasonable grounds to believe” that Syria’s air force dropped a chlorine bomb on a residential neighbourhood in the rebel-controlled Idlib region. The new report by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) investigative arm said on Monday no one was killed when the cylinder of chlorine gas, delivered in a barrel bomb, hit the Al Talil neighbourhood in the city of Saraqeb in February 2018. However, a dozen people were treated for symptoms consistent with chemical poisoning, including nausea, eye irritation, shortness of breath, coughing and wheezing, it said.