The Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in Syria released a report on the incident in the city of Saraqib, in the Idlib countryside, which occurred on February 4, 2018.
The FFM dispatched its team to the site after widespread reports in the media, press, and social media about a chemical weapon attack.
The FFM published its report on May 15, 2018, under reference number (S/1626/2018), confirming that the city was targeted by two cylinders containing chlorine.
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 Saraqib incident.
The FFM adhered to strict methodological considerations, as it had in previous investigations, taking 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 19 individuals, including two doctors, four medical support staff, six rescue workers, one eyewitness, a media worker, a sample collector, and four affected individuals.
The medical records reported 11 injuries, 10 of whom were males between the ages of 20 and 40, and one was a 50-year-old male.
The report concluded that chlorine was used as a chemical weapon in the Talil neighborhood of Saraqib in Idlib countryside, based on the presence of two cylinders identified by the FFM as containing chlorine.
The report also confirmed that the patients who received treatment exhibited signs and symptoms of tissue irritation consistent with exposure to chlorine and other toxic chemicals.
chemical_attack chemical_weapons chlorine chlorine_attack FFM idlib opcw saraqib syria
