UN: Assad government responsible for April sarin gas attack

The United Nations (UN) has officially accused the Syrian government of perpetrating the deadly chemical attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun earlier this year, which prompted the U.S. to launch a strike on a Syrian airbase. 

“The Syrian Arab Republic is responsible for the release of sarin at Khan Sheikhoun on 4 April 2017,” a report from the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’s Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) said, according to Reuters. 

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley in  statement called on nations defending the regime despite chemical weapons attacks to end their support. 

BREAKING: JIM report concludes Assad regime responsible for April 4 #chemicalweapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun, #Syria. pic.twitter.com/9xaUXwaHIi

— US Mission to the UN (@USUN) October 26, 2017

“The Security Council must send a clear message that the use of chemical weapons by anyone will not be tolerated, and must fully support the work of the impartial investigators,” she said.  

The attack took the lives of at least 58 people, including 11 children, in the rebel-held area of the war-torn country. 

{mosads}The U.S., in turn, launched a missile strike on the Shayrat Air Base near the city of Homs, where the gas attack originated. 

“It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons,” President Trump said. “There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons.”

Syria vowed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013, and has repeatedly denied using them in the midst of its civil war, which has claimed the lives of thousands.