Chlorine was used as a chemical weapon in attacks on villages in northern Syria, according to a report by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
In a statement, the international body said that it had found “compelling confirmation that a toxic chemical was used systematically and repeatedly as a weapon in villages in northern Syria earlier this year.
The report found that the chemical was used “either pure or in mixture” in attacks on the villages of Talmanes, Al Tamanah and Kafr Zeta, where the rebels have been engaged in fighting against Assad’s forces.
A report by the United Nations in August also said that the Syrian authorities had used chemical weapons earlier in the year, where it said unequivocally that “Government forces used chlorine gas, an illegal weapon.”
The OPCW has been overseeing efforts to destroy Syria’s stockpiles of chemical weapons after an agreement was reached between Syria, Russia, and the US in September 2013, for Syria to declare stockpiles of banned chemical munitions and ship them out of the country for destruction.
However, chlorine is regarded as a weak toxic agent and Syria was not obligated to declare its stockpiles of the chemical under the deal.
