Chlorine gas was used as a chemical weapon in Kafr Zeita in northwest Syria in 2016, a Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) announced on Tuesday.
In October 2016, reports were published about an alleged use of toxic chemicals as a weapon in Kafr Zeita, involving two industrial chlorine cylinder barrels containing toxic gas near a field hospital. About 20 people suffered from suffocation and breathing difficulties.
After collecting digital and physical evidence and interviewing witnessess, the FFM found there were "reasonable grounds" to believe that at least one chlorine cylinder had been used as a weapon.
The FFM does not identify who is responsible for alleged attacks and only works to determine whether chemical weapons or toxic chemicals used as weapons were used in Syria. Chlorine, sulfur mustard and sarin have been found to have been used as chemical weapons in other incidents in Syria.