Chemical weapon experts of OPCW visit site of alleged chemical attack in Syria's Douma

Experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Saturday visited one of the sites in Douma, Syria, where a chemical attack allegedly took place on April 7 to collect samples for analysis.

In a statement, the OPCW said it would now evaluate and consider whether the team needs to make a second visit to Douma.
Samples will be transported back to the Netherlands and onward to the organisation's network of designated labs for analysis.
Based on the analysis of the sample results as well other information and materials collected by the team, the mission would compile a report and submit it to the organisation`s member states, the statement said.

The OPCW has been investigating the use of toxic chemicals in Syria`s civil war since 2014. Inspectors had been trying to reach Douma for several days but were delayed after an advance security detail was fired upon on April 17.

The OPCW team will attempt to determine whether chemical weapons were used and if so, which. It is not mandated to conclude which side in the conflict used them.

The town of Douma was, at the time of the attack, under rebel control and facing a ferocious government air and ground assault. Militants gave up the town days after the alleged attack, which killed more than 40 people.

The US, France, and Britain blamed the Syrian government and struck suspected Syrian chemical weapons facilities one week later.

Images that emerged from Douma in the hours after the attack showed lifeless bodies collapsed in crowded rooms, some with foam around their noses and mouths. Thousands of people — rebels and civilians — left Douma on buses to north Syria in the days afterwards, believing they could not reconcile with the government after it took over the town. North Syria is divided between opposition, Turkish, and al-Qaida control.

The evacuations were the latest in a string of population transfers around the Syrian capital that have displaced more than 60,000 people as the government reconsolidates control after seven years of civil war.

(With inputs from Agencies)