UN Unable to Confirm 'Means of Delivery' of Alleged Chemical Attack in Idlib

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — Syrian opposition claimed Tuesday forces loyal to President Bashar Assad had used a chemical gas on people in the northwestern province, killing nearly 80 and injuring 200. Assad argued his government has no chemical weapons after agreeing to have them destroyed in 2013. He also ruled out having used chemicals against own people.

The Russian Defense Ministry said early Wednesday the airstrike near Khan Shaykhun was carried out by Syrian aircraft, which struck a terrorist warehouse that stored chemical weapons slated for delivery to Iraq.

"Reports have stated that the attack was carried out through an airstrike on a residential area," Kim Won-soo said. "However, the means of delivery of the alleged attack cannot be definitely confirmed at this stage."

On Tuesday, a source in the Syrian army told Sputnik that the Syrian army did not have chemical weapons and the allegations of the attack in Idlib could be part of anti-Damascus propaganda.

The United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have started investigating the incident.

On January 20, Syria’s President Bashar Assad said that the country’s government had never used weapons of mass destruction, including the chemical weapons, against Syrian people. Assad recalled that in 2013 Damascus had agreed to destroy its chemical weapons warehouses and did not have such weapons stored.