A/HRC/36/55 Annex II Inquiry into allegations of chemical weapons used in Khan Shaykhun, Idlib, on 4 April 2017 I. Initial reports and allegations 1. On the morning of 4 April, public reports emerged that shortly after sunrise a series of airstrikes were launched on Khan Shaykhun, a town in southern Idlib which borders northern Hama. Khan Shaykhun is controlled by armed groups including Ahrar al-Sham and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an umbrella coalition of extremist factions led by terrorist group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (previously Jabhat al-Nusra). Throughout the day, news outlets and social media reported that dozens of civilians had died and hundreds of residents were suffering from symptoms consistent with exposure to sarin. The allegations would amount to the first sarin attack in the Syrian Arab Republic since 21 August 2013 when approximately 1,000 people were killed in Ghouta due to sarin exposure. Some hours later, between 11.30 and 1.30 p.m., the al-Rahma medical point and civil defence centre in Khan Shaykhun, which neighbour each other, were reportedly hit by airstrikes while treating patients of the alleged sarin attack. The al-Rahma medical point served as the main trauma facility in Khan Shaykhun. II. Statements by Russian and Syrian authorities 2. During the course of the day on 4 April, Russian and Syrian authorities made public statements concerning the events in Khan Shaykhun. Both denied the involvement of Syrian forces in the alleged sarin attack suggesting instead that terrorist groups were responsible. The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation released a statement saying that the Syrian air force had struck a terrorist depot in Khan Shaykhun between 11.30 a.m. and 12.30 p.m., and that the depot included workshops where chemical warfare munitions were produced.1 The Syrian Army issued a statement denying it had used chemical agents in Khan Shaykhun and that responsibility for the attack lied with militants. 2 3. Syrian and Russian officials continued to make statements after 4 April. At a press conference on 6 April, the Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs repeated the Russian Federation Ministry of Defence claim by saying that the Syrian “army attacked an arms depot belonging to Jabhat al-Nusra chemical weapons”. He denied that Government forces had used chemical weapons instead explaining that the first airstrike carried out by Syrian forces in Khan Shaykhun on 4 April was at 11.30 a.m.3 Subsequently, during an interview on 13 April, President Bashar al-Assad denied that the Syrian army had used sarin and said that the allegations were fabricated, noting “the West, mainly the United States, is hand-inglove with the terrorists. They fabricated the whole story in order to have a pretext for the attack [on the Shayrat airbase]”. He added that “[i]f they said that we launched the sarin attack from that airbase, what happened to the sarin when they attacked the depots?” 4 , suggesting the Syrian army’s deployment concept for sarin relied on the storage of the 1 2 3 4 Facebook post titled “Russian Defence Ministry comments on the destruction of a depot with terrorists’ chemical weapons near Khan Sheikhun carried out by the Syrian aviation”, posted by the Russian Federation Ministry of Defence on 4 April 2017, available at https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1903432043232876&id=1492252324350852. Syrian Army rejects claims of chemical weapons use in Idlib, blames militants, SPUTNIK NEWS, 4 April 2014, available at https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201704041052292018-syrian-armyidlib-militants-chemical-weapons. Live: Syrian FM Walid al-Moallem, holds press conference in Damascus, YOUTUBE, video clip uploaded on 6 April 2017, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcaF1vC8SPA. Statement in response to the United States airstrike of 7 April against the Shayrat airbase in Homs. 21