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Syria chemical attack: Investigators allowed to visit site

17Apr

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

World

Syria chemical attack: Investigators allowed to visit site

Chemical weapons inspectors in Syria will be permitted to visit the site of an alleged chemical attack on Wednesday, Russia has said. The international team has been in the country since Saturday, but has not been allowed to visit Douma. The attack on 7 April prompted military strikes on Syrian government targets by the US, UK, and France a week later. Syria and its ally Russia deny any chemical attack took place - with Russia calling it a "staged thing". Early on Tuesday, Syrian state media said the country's air defences had responded to a missile attack over the western city of Homs. The missiles targeted Shayrat air base, it said - but did not say who fired the missiles. Another report, from the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia, said that Syrian air defences had intercepte...

N Korea ‘providing materials to Syria chemical weapons factories’

North Korea has been sending equipment to Syria that could be used in chemical weapons manufacturing, US media report, citing findings by UN experts. The materials include acid-resistant tiles, valves and pipes, reports say. An as-yet-unreleased UN report also says Pyongyang's missile specialists have been seen at Syrian weapon-making facilities, the New York Times says. The allegations come after new reports of chlorine gas being used by Syrian forces, which the government denies. North Korea is under international sanctions over its nuclear programme. The supplies reported to have been illicitly sent to Syria by North Korea included high-heat, acid-resistant tiles, corrosion-resistant valves and thermometers. The tiles are said to be used to construct facilities where chemic...

U.S. says Syria may be developing new types of chemical weapons

The Syrian government may be developing new types of chemical weapons, and U.S. President Donald Trump is prepared to consider further military action if necessary to deter chemical attacks, senior U.S. officials said on Thursday. President Bashar al-Assad is believed to have secretly kept part of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile despite a U.S.-Russian deal under which Damascus was supposed to have handed over all such weapons for destruction in 2014, the officials said. Assad’s forces have instead “evolved” their chemical weapons and made continued occasional use of them in smaller amounts since a deadly attack last April that drew a U.S. missile strike on a Syrian air base, the officials told reporters in a briefing. Characteristics of some of those recent attacks suggest that...