Syria Rejects Watchdog Report on Chemical Weapons Use

The Syrian government has rejected a report by an international chemical weapons watchdog that found chlorine most likely was used in an attack on the rebel-held city of Douma last year.

A Syrian Foreign Ministry statement released Thursday said the report was "full of flagrant falsification of facts'' and lacked "credibility."

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) released a report last week that said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe toxic chemicals containing chlorine had been used in the attack in April 2018. Eyewitnesses and medical workers at the time said more than 40 people were killed in the attack.

The OPCW inspectors traveled to Douma. Their report did not assign blame for the use of chemicals.

The Syrian statement said the investigation had "ignored statements from witnesses who experienced this incident and who described the claim that chemical weapons had been used in Douma as having been a play put on by armed terrorist groups."