Samir Aita, a Syrian member of the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad, has explained to Sputnik France that it is impossible to determine whom to hold accountable for the alleged chemical attack in Douma.
“We know that the Syrian army has possibly had some chemical weapons stockpiles, as well as Daesh* and other militant groups. People from civil opposition, helping those wounded, medical organizations that try to guarantee the people’s security – everyone has shown skepticism towards reports about chemical weapons, in this case sarin gas, being used. They have surely used chlorine, but we don’t know either who did it, or how it happened,”Aita elaborated.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had confirmed that the fact-finding mission found no chemical weapons at Syrian facilities bombed by the United States, France and the UK 11 days ago.
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On April 14, the United States, the UK, and France, fired over 100 missiles at multiple targets in Syria in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians by government forces in the city of Douma in Eastern Ghouta on April 7.
The tripartite attack on Syria took place on the same day that the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons was set to launch a fact-finding mission on site; prior to the strikes, the Russian Ministry of Defense sent a chemical corps commission to Douma to investigate the alleged incident, and found no traces of chemical poisoning, either chlorine or sarin.
Weeks prior to the attack, both Damascus and Moscow warned the international community of upcoming chemical provocations, staged by militant groups in order to “justify foreign intervention” in Syria.
*Daesh, also known as ISIL/ISIS/IS, a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries
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