The Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in Syria released a report on the Khan Sheikhoun incident in southern Idlib countryside, which occurred on April 4, 2017.
The FFM sent its team to the incident site after widespread reporting by media, press, and social media about a chemical weapon attack.
The FFM published its report on June 29, 2017, under reference number (S/1510/2017), confirming that a large number of people, including those who lost their lives, were exposed to sarin gas or a similar substance, which was used as a chemical weapon.
The report included a note asserting that the use of sarin gas in Khan Sheikhoun, an area outside the control of the Syrian regime, “is not a subject open to doubt.”
Due to the extensive information available about the incident in the media and social media, which provided a reliable basis for investigation, the FFM conducted an assessment of the information available about the incident and was tasked with gathering facts related to the Khan Sheikhoun incident.
The FFM followed more stringent methodological considerations, categorizing the evidence as (primary, secondary, and tertiary), and took into account the consistency of testimonies from those interviewed, along with open-source research, documents, and other records. Most of the samples submitted to the mission were supported by witness testimonies and accompanied by documentation.
The FFM team communicated with non-governmental organizations, including the Syrian Chemical Violations Documentation Center and the Syrian Civil Defense, to identify witnesses (from various age groups, the conditions they were exposed to, the location of the incident, and how they were transported and treated) for interviews and obtaining their testimonies. Interviews were conducted with 34 individuals, including patients and doctors.
According to the report, the total number of deaths during the Khan Sheikhoun incident reached approximately 100 people.
The report concluded that medical samples (taken from three eyewitnesses and four patients from the hospital) indicated exposure to sarin gas or a similar substance.
assad_regime chemical_attack chemical_weapons FFM khan_shaykhun opcw sarin
