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<p>There is credible evidence of repeated chemical weapon attacks perpetrated by the
Syrian regime since August 2013. The UK was among the first countries to call for
the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to investigate these
allegations. The OPCW Fact Finding Mission was subsequently established in April 2014
and its work is ongoing. Despite the difficulty of investigating these allegations
in a conflict environment, the Mission’s May 2014 interim report stated that the available
information “lends credence to the view that toxic chemicals, most likely pulmonary
irritating agents such as chlorine, have been used in a systematic manner in a number
of attacks”.</p><p>The August 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry report further stated
that “Reasonable grounds exist to believe that chemical agents, likely chlorine, were
used...[and that]... those agents were dropped in barrel bombs from government helicopters
flying overhead”. Any use of chemical agents in warfare contravenes the Chemical Weapon
Convention, to which Syria acceded in September 2013. We will press for all those
who use chemical weapons to be held to account for these war crimes.</p>
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