The Syrian regime submitted a request to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to conduct a series of investigations in several areas of Syria, claiming the use of chlorine as a “weapon.”
The OPCW tasked the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) with confirming the occurrence of a chemical attack and issued a report on its alleged activities in Syria, report number (S/1255/2015*), published on March 10, 2015. In this report, the OPCW revealed its intention to investigate allegations of the use of toxic chemical substances, said to contain chlorine, in five Syrian areas.
Subsequently, the OPCW published another report on December 17, 2015, report number (S/1318/2015/Rev.1), in which the FFM was tasked with verifying the claims regarding attacks using chemical weapons in six incidents. Most of these incidents occurred at “important” sites in the Damascus and its countryside (Jobar, Al-Kabbas, Al-Malihah, Daraya), in addition to the areas of Nubl and Zahraa in the countryside of Aleppo province in northern Syria.
Incident in Jobar
The Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) team was tasked with conducting an investigation in the Jobar neighborhood, located east of the capital, Damascus (which was under opposition control at the time), after the Syrian regime observed that its soldiers had been affected by a chemical weapon on August 29, 2014.
From FFM report: S/1318/2015/Rev.1The Syrian regime proposed providing eyewitnesses to the Fact-Finding Mission team, including victim witnesses, rescuers, ambulance drivers, medical workers, and participants in the incident. This included a list of 16 victims related to the incident and another list containing the names of 6 doctors and 11 nurses who provided treatment to the patients. The Fact-Finding Mission also visited Yusuf Al-Azma Hospital, where the victims were expected to have been treated.
The report mentioned that the Syrian regime authorities informed the Fact-Finding Mission that no remnants of munitions or other forensic evidence were retrieved from the site, as indicated in the verbal note.
The report concluded that the medical team was “not confident” that chemical substances had been used in this neighborhood “based on the available evidence.
Incident in Al-Malihah
From FFM report: S/1318/2015/Rev.1The report stated that in the incident in Al-Malihah on April 16, 2014, eight soldiers of the Syrian regime’s army were tasked with infiltrating an area of civilian homes where they discovered a tunnel. This tunnel, estimated to be 37 meters long, was the site of the incident (and was not visible on the map). All eyewitnesses interviewed described audible characteristics of a chemical release without seeing the causative agent, any fragments, or any indications of munitions. The affected individuals were treated in hospitals, and those interviewed were discharged in good health a few days after the incident.
The injury record provided by one hospital indicated that the incident occurred around 8 PM, whereas the interviewees mentioned that it happened around 2:30 PM.
The report concluded that it was evident the Syrian regime forces were fighting opposition forces in the Al-Malihah area of rural Damascus, near a pharmaceutical factory. The Fact-Finding Mission faced some difficulties in determining the predominant narrative of this incident, as the eyewitness accounts differed among themselves and conflicted with the medical records.
In conclusion, the Fact-Finding Mission stated that it was able to establish a general narrative of the incident but could not “positively” confirm any specific toxic chemical event. Instead, the incident was the result of inhalation of an “unknown toxic gas.”
Incident in Al-Kabbas
From FFM report: S/1318/2015/Rev.1The report also stated that the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) faced difficulties in establishing a prevailing narrative for the incident in the Al-Kabbas area of rural Damascus, which occurred on September 10, 2014, during a battle between Syrian regime forces and opposition forces near a paint factory.
The FFM encountered difficulties in determining the main account of the incident, as only three people were interviewed, and their individual narratives were sometimes far apart.
The Fact-Finding Mission was able to establish a general narrative based on the victims’ testimonies, but it could not “positively” confirm the occurrence of any specific chemical event.
Incident in Nubl and Al-Zahraa
In the report on the incident in Nubl and Al-Zahraa on January 8, 2015, it was alleged that five mortar shells fell in the neighborhood known as Joud Association in the area of Nubl and Al-Zahraa, which are part of the countryside of Aleppo province.
From FFM report: S/1318/2015/Rev.1According to the report, all interviewees were members of the local popular committees, an armed group tasked by local notables affiliated with the Syrian regime to defend the surrounding areas and vital infrastructure. Eyewitnesses described receiving radio communications warning them of potential toxic chemical attacks, which were broadcast over the mosque’s loudspeakers. Everyone described the objects that landed as primitive 120mm mortar shells, and the smoke’s odor was consistent with that of chlorine and cleaning agents.
The incident resulted in symptoms appearing in seven individuals, who received treatment at medical points. Two witnesses returned to one of the points and reported seeing decayed remains of the causative object, with intact fins remaining. One witness observed remnants he described as fertilizer or red ice leaking from the object.
The report concluded that, after conducting interviews, there was a discrepancy in the number of victims reported by Al-Zahraa Hospital and the verbal note, as well as differences in the type of rockets reported (rockets versus primitive mortar shells as described by eyewitnesses).
The Fact-Finding Mission was able to establish a coherent narrative based on the victims’ testimonies but was unable to “positively” confirm the occurrence of any specific toxic chemical incident due to the lack of physical evidence and samples from the site.
Incident in Daraya
In the incident in Daraya, which occurred on February 15, 2015, the prevailing narrative confirmed a military clash between soldiers of the Syrian regime forces and opposition forces. All interviewed individuals mentioned they were subjected to gunfire from various weapons and could not identify the “device” from which the chemical leak originated.
From FFM report: S/1318/2015/Rev.1The Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) report noted some inconsistencies between the documents provided and the interviews conducted with eyewitnesses (the soldiers admitted to the hospital). It was later revealed that the affected soldiers did not go to the hospital until a day or two after the incident, as they felt the need to stay at the battle site and their comrades required treatment.
The information and services provided by the Syrian regime to the Fact-Finding Mission, including blood samples from the patients involved in the incident, helped clarify several issues. The most important was that although the blood sample analysis indicated exposure to sarin gas (or a sarin-like substance), there was no specific historical evidence of when this exposure occurred. Additionally, the Fact-Finding Mission was unable to verify the chain of custody between the time the blood was drawn from the victims and the time the samples were sealed by the mission.
chemical_attack chemical_weapons FFM opcw syria
