Syria has rejected a report sent to the UN Security Council that blamed it for a chemical attack on the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in April in which dozens of people were killed. Citing an official in Syria’s foreign ministry, State news agency reported that Damascus rejects in form and substance what was included in the report of the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM).
Quoting the official, State media also reported that the report had been compiled under instructions from the United States and other Western countries to place more political pressure on Syria. The JIM report found Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government responsible for the release of sarin at Khan Sheikhoun on April 4 this year. The attack prompted a US missile strike against a Syrian air base which Washington said was used to launch the strike.
