LONDON: British military scientists have found forensic evidence that chemical weapons have been used in the conflict in Syria, the Times newspaper reported yesterday.
A soil sample thought to have been taken from an area close to Damascus and smuggled back to Britain has provided proof that "some kind of chemical weapon" had been fired, it quoted defense sources as saying.
The tests were carried out at the Ministry of Defense's chemical and biological research establishment at Porton Down, it added in the front-page story. Diplomats at the United Nations said on Thursday that Western Nations have "hard evidence" that chemical weapons have been used at least once in the Syrian war, without giving details.
The British team were unable to discern whether the weapons had been fired by President Bashar Assad's regime or by the fighters battling him, nor could they say if there had been widespread use, The Times said. It cited an unnamed source as saying: "There have been some reports that it was just a strong riot-control agent but this is not the case — it's something else, although it can't definitively be said to be sarin nerve agent."
Meanwhile, the Italian Foreign Ministry says that four Italian journalists who had been detained in Syria are now free.
UK has proof chemical weapons used in Syria
