Syrian government to blame for April sarin attack: U.N. report

FILE PHOTO: A man breathes through an oxygen mask as another one receives treatments, after what rescue workers described as a suspected gas attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in rebel-held Idlib, Syria April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah/File Photo
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad is to blame for a chemical attack on the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun that killed dozens of people last April, according to a report sent to the United Nations Security Council on Thursday.

“The Syrian Arab Republic is responsible for the release of sarin at Khan Sheikhoun on 4 April 2017,” the report from the U.N. and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) said.

The attack prompted a U.S. missile strike against a Syrian air base which Washington said was used to launch the strike.

“Time and again, we see independent confirmation of chemical weapons use by the Assad regime,” Nikki Haley, the United States’ U.N. ambassador, said in a statement.

“The Security Council must send a clear message that the use of chemical weapons by anyone will not be tolerated, and must fully support the work of the impartial investigators.”

The report also said ISIS was to blame for the use of sulfur mustard in the Syrian town of Umm Hawsh on Sept. 15 and 16, 2016.

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