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Report: Blood samples show possible sarin attack in Syria

Blood samples from soldiers involved in an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria last year show a "high degree of probability" that they have been exposed to sarin at some point, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said in a report published in New York yesterday.

In a report to the UN Security Council, the chemical weapons watchdog said that its investigation into a possible attack on Darayya, a suburb of Damascus, on Feb 15 last year found that at least four people had been exposed to sarin gas at some point.

However, the investigators could not link the exposure specifically to the alleged incident.

"There is a high degree of probability that some of those identified as being involved in the alleged incident in Darayya on Feb 15, 2015 were at some point exposed to sarin or a sarin-like substance," the report said.

However, investigators "could not confidently link the blood sample analyses to this particular incident nor determine how, when, or under what circumstances the exposure occurred."

The investigators noted that the Syrian government provided the blood samples that came from soldiers of the Syrian army involved in the alleged attack. The OPCW was not able to verify the chain of custody or when the samples had been drawn.

The report said that if the fact-finding mission had been notified of the attack immediately, it could have gathered primary evidence to establish the fact of a chemical weapons attack.

The OPCW fact-finding mission has a mandate to establish possible chemical weapons attacks but not to identify the possible perpetrators.

The Security Council is expected to receive the first report of an investigative mechanism set up to identify who used chemical weapons later this week.

Under a 2013 Security Council resolution, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was mandated to destroy the country's chemical weapons arsenal.

However, reports of attacks using chlorine gas and other toxins have continued.

The Islamic State extremist group has also been accused of using chemical weapons.

- dpa

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