Chemical weapons watchdog to send probe to Douma, Syria

April 10 (UPI) — The world’s chemical warfare watchdog, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, said Tuesday it would send a team to Syria after reports of a gas attack there.

The organization said it’s monitored the situation since local groups in Syria first reported over the weekend that forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad dropped at least one barrel bomb of chemicals that killed dozens of civilians in Douma, a rebel-held enclave near the capital of Damascus.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said Tuesday it asked Syria to arrange for the group to send a fact-finding mission to Douma. It added that Syria and its ally Russia also requested a probe.

The organization, a product of the international Chemical Weapons Convention, has an ongoing investigation looking into possible use of chemical weapons in Syria since 2014.

It determined that last April, Syrians fell victim to a chemical attack that killed more than 90 people — but the group didn’t say whether Assad’s forces launched the attack.