Thread by @EliotHiggins

The OPCW IIT has concluded its investigation in to the 2018 Saraqib chlorine attack, which we investigated back in February 2018 with @STJ_SYRIA_ENG. The OPCW IIT has concluded this is yet another chemical attack by the Syrian Air Force.

https://twitter.com/GERMANYonUN/status/1381567200188895235

The OPCW IIT report is not public yet, but in the Bellingcat + STJ investigation we identified a number of details, such as the impact site of the munitions used, in a field in between buildings in Saraqib.

Photographs of the munitions used clearly show they're the same sort of yellow chlorine cylinders used in many other chlorine attacks in Syria.

Alongside the chlorine cylinders, metal fragments consistent with the metal frames placed around chlorine cylinders to turn them into improvised chemical bombs were also documented.

Bellingcat's investigation with @STJ_SYRIA_ENG can we read below, and we look forward to reading the full OPCW IIT report on the attack. bellingcat.com/news/mena/2018…

I also expect the usual suspects who dismiss chemical weapon attacks as being false flags will struggle with their theories around this one, as they probably haven't heard about it until today because it wasn't a big news event, and they only care about those ones.

The OPCW IIT report is now online opcw.org/media-centre/n…

Here's the summary of the findings, @tobiaschneider probably has something to say about the Tiger Forces and their use of chlorine.

Various debris found around the impact site related to the metal frame used with Syrian chlorine (although observed at the Douma chemical attack a few weeks later). For the nerds, the metal front plate detail is probably the most interesting.

Also nice to see how they show how evidence was collected, packaged and transported to the FFM, showing the packing tape wasn't altered after collection.

The OPCW IIT also tested the scenario that cleaning chemicals could have been used to create the presence of chlorine, no doubt to address the usual suspects who would claim that's actually what happened. Bad luck to those folks, I guess.

I'm impressed by the thoroughness of the OPCW IIT. They've clearly learnt the lessons of previous investigations, in particular how to address conspiracy theories about chemical attacks, and have pre-emptively addressed them. Plus included some handy graphics like this:

This report builds on the growing body of evidence that Syria's Tiger Forces are using chemical weapons, in particular chlorine filled munitions.

Also relevant to the the Tiger Force's use of chemical weapons is this investigation by Bellingcat, relating to the 2017 March Al Lataminah chlorine attack bellingcat.com/news/2020/04/1…