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Conflict in Syria

Kazakhstan calls for probe into alleged chemical attack in Syria

Kazakhstan has called for an objective and thorough investigation into the suspected use of chemical weapons in Syria with participation of all parties concerned

ASTANA, April 13. /TASS/. Kazakhstan calls for an impartial investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria, the republic’s Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said after a meeting with the delegation of Germany’s Bundestag.

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Russia vetoes UN Security Council resolution on alleged chemical attack in Syria

"Kazakhstan calls for an objective, all-encompassing and thorough investigation into the suspected use of chemical weapons in Syria on April 4 under the auspices of the UN and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) with participation of all parties concerned," the minister said, according to the press service.

The top diplomat stressed that "Kazakhstan is ready to further provide a platform in Astana to continue talks on achieving a sustainable ceasefire in Syria."

Reuters reported on April 4, citing the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, that an air strike by Syrian or Russian jets had allegedly killed scores of people, including children, in the town of Khan-Shaykhun. According to the report, the air strike could have been carried out by the Syrian government forces in a suspected gas attack.

The Russian and the Syrian military have rejected their involvement in the attack.

Following an order of US President Donald Trump, the US military fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles from its warships in the Mediterranean on an air base in the Syrian Homs Governorate in early hours of April 7. The missile strike came as a response to the alleged chemical attack in Idlib on April 4 and targeted what Washington claims was a starting location for the attack.

Read also

No evidence of chemical weapons use by Syrian troops — Putin

According to the Russian Defense Ministry’s data, the Syrian aircraft hit workshops on April 4 where terrorists were producing munitions with chemical agents supplied to Iraq and used in Aleppo.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow considered the US missile strikes on the air base in Homs as an aggression against a sovereign state.

Russia vetoed on Wednesday the resolution condemning the alleged chemical attack in the Syrian town of Khan-Sheikhoun on April 4 and demanding from Damascus to present information on its sorties on that day. The West-drafted resolution was supported by ten votes at the UN Security Council, which forced Moscow to veto it.

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Kazakhstan Syrian conflict

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