An international watchdog group linked the Syrian military to sarin and chlorine attacks against civilians three years ago.
The Investigation and Identification Team with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons concluded the Syrian Arab Air Force carried out attacks in the town of Ltamenah on March 24, 25, and 30 in 2017, killing or sickening more than 100 people, according to a report released on Wednesday.
The group found the 50th Brigade of the 22nd Air Division of the Syrian Air Force dropped M4000 bombs containing sarin gas, a powerful nerve agent, in Ltamenah. The team also said the military dropped a canister containing chlorine onto a hospital in the town.
“Military operations of such a strategic nature as these three attacks only occur pursuant to orders from the highest levels of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces,” the investigative team said.
The team and the OPCW do not have any judicial authority. OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias said it is up to the United Nations to “take any further action they deem appropriate and necessary.”
Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s regime, bolstered by support from Russia and Iran, has denied involvement in the attacks and has placed the blame on opposition forces, who it says attempted to frame the government.
The United States has accused the regime of using chemical weapons three times since 2017, the most recent of which was in May of last year. President Trump has called Syria’s usage of chemical weapons is a “red line.”
Syria has been engaged in a protracted and bloody civil war since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.
