Syria chemical attacks probe plans field visits in March
Syria chemical attacks probe plans field visits in March
The international body charged with establishing who is responsible for chemical attacks in Syria says it has identified seven potential sites for investigation, which it hopes to begin next month.
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The panel is looking into cases of serious chemical weapons use including in Idlib [Getty]
A United Nations team of experts tasked with identifying those responsible for chemical attacks in Syria will begin in-depth investigations on the ground in early March.
Virginia Gamba, the head of the panel, told reporters after meeting with the UN Security Council that "security permitting", two teams plan to carry out field visits in the coming weeks.
"Any use of toxic substances, weapons by anybody, anywhere, under any circumstances, is totally abhorrent and I would like to assure individuals, groups, entities or governments... that these acts will be identified and they will be held accountable for these actions," Gamba said.
Gamba heads the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) set up in August by the council after reports surfaced of chlorine gas attacks on three villages in Syria that left 13 dead.
The panel has been tasked with drawing up a list of individuals and entities deemed responsible for the attacks.
Gamba said the panel was looking into seven potential cases of serious chemical weapons use including five in Idlib province in 2014 and 2015.
Two other cases are under investigation in Hama governate and Marea in Aleppo province, where Islamic State fighters allegedly used mustard gas in August last year.
President Bashar al-Assad's regime and rebel groups have accused each other of using chemical weapons in the nearly five-year war in which more than 260,000 people have been killed.
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