Syria rejects UN report blaming it for Sarin gas attack that killed 90 in April

The attack in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun in April sparked outrage around the world. But the Syrian government has denied any involvement.

world Updated: Oct 28, 2017 18:23 IST

Associated Press, Damascus

In this April 4, 2017 file photo, Abdel Hameed Alyousef, 29, holds his twin babies who were killed during a suspected chemical weapons attack, in Khan Sheikhoun in the northern province of Idlib, Syria. (AP File Photo)

Syria’s government has categorically rejected a report by experts from the UN and the chemical weapons watchdog blaming its government for a sarin nerve gas attack that killed over 90 people last spring.

In a statement Saturday, it says the report was a result of US instructions to exert more political pressure on Syria, describing it as a “forgery.”

“This report and the one that preceded it are falsifications of the truth,” said the statement.

The attack in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun in April sparked outrage around the world and a US strike days later on the Shayrat airbase, from which Washington said the attack had been launched. Syria’s government has denied involvement.

But the investigators’ new report says experts are “confident” Damascus was behind the strike.