METRO, 26 Oct 2017— Syrian government was behind a chemical attack which killed dozens of people in April, the UN has said in a report. Over 80 people were killed as sarin was dropped on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun. Images from the attack shocked the world – but Assad denied all responsibility despite witness testimonies that the gas was dropped from planes. A UN report has now determined ‘the Syrian Arab Republic is responsible for the release of sarin at Khan Sheikhoun on 4 April 2017.’ The Security Council received the report today, from the UN and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM).
A Syrian child receives treatment at a hospital in Khan Sheikhun after the attack
estruction at a hospital room in Khan Sheikhun following the gas attack
Sarin can permeate skin, membranes and lungs or it can be mixed into water. It doesn’t always kill, though with fatal doses deaths are almost never immediate. After exposure, victims suffer an often long and always excruciating pain. If they are lucky the effects of the gas will eventually wear off, otherwise they will perish. Nerve agents disturb neurotransmitters – the way our nerves communicate – by affecting the frequency at which they carry out processes and preventing them from being broken down once their job is done.
A child gets treatment at a hospital on April 4
If a neurotransmitter is not broken down it lingers delivering the same instruction to the body over and over again. Within a few seconds of being exposed to sarin, it inhibits control of smooth muscles – an involuntary tissue which ensures organs like the stomach, intestines and bladder work effectively – and uncontrollable secretions begin, eyes water uncontrollably, saliva and vomit is emitted from the mouth and the bowel and bladder also evacuate. Vision is blurred and breathing is restricted due to a painfully tight chest. If someone has been exposed to a lethal amount of sarin, the body will start to violently convulse and become paralysed.
A Syrian child receives treatment
Abdul Youssef wanted the world to see how sarin killed his twin babies
Victims of the chemical weapons attack lie on the ground in Khan Sheikhoun
Chemical attacks can kill within 10 minutes. American forces launched a missile strike against the Syrian air base where the strike was believed to be launched from. The JIM, set up by the UN, has already found Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks in 2014 and 2015. Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States. They continued to use them, despite repeatedly denying using chemical weapons during the country’s more than six-year civil war.
