The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has concluded that there are “reasonable grounds to believe” that the Syrian Arab Air Force, under the Assad regime, was responsible for the chemical weapons attack carried out on 1 October 2016 in the city of Kafr Zita (in northern Hama countryside, northwestern Syria).
This came after a comprehensive investigation conducted by the Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) between March 2024 and December 2025, according to the organisation’s report issued on 22 January.
The OPCW said the investigation was based on a comprehensive analysis and verification of all available information. It noted that Syrian forces dropped at least one compressed yellow cylinder onto a cave system in Wadi al-Anz, near al-Maghara Hospital, releasing pressurised chlorine gas. The attack injured 35 known individuals, as well as a large number of undocumented casualties.
The assessment relied on the “reasonable grounds” standard commonly used by fact-finding bodies and international commissions of inquiry. It included information from the Fact-Finding Mission, States Parties, interviews conducted by an independent commission of inquiry, sample analyses, computer modelling, satellite imagery, front-line maps, video footage, authenticated photographs, and other relevant data.
The organisation also carefully reviewed the positions presented by the former Syrian authorities, but said it was unable to obtain any concrete information supporting those positions.
The OPCW has previously issued five official reports identifying the perpetrators behind seven incidents involving the use of toxic chemicals as weapons in Syria.
OPCW Director-General Ambassador Fernando Arias praised the cooperation the organisation received from Syria’s new authorities, describing it as the first cooperation by the Syrian Arab Republic with an investigation conducted by an international investigative body.
He added that this cooperation comes within the commitments made by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, which were reaffirmed during Arias’s visit to Damascus in February, calling it “a significant achievement and an effective contribution to strengthening international accountability”.
According to Arias, the new report provides additional evidence of a pattern of systematic use of toxic chemicals as weapons by the former Syrian authorities against their own people. He said the report’s findings are now available to the international community, the United Nations, and States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention.
He also confirmed that investigations will continue to identify those responsible for chemical weapons use in Syria through the OPCW’s Office of Special Missions.
Syria reactivates its mission to the OPCW
Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates had reactivated the country’s permanent mission to the OPCW in The Hague.
The ministry appointed Mohammad Katoub as Syria’s permanent representative to the organisation on 20 November 2024.
The First Committee of the UN General Assembly later adopted, with the support of 151 countries, a resolution highlighting a phase of positive and advanced cooperation between Syria and the OPCW.
Syria’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ibrahim Olabi, said on 3 November that the Syrian delegation voted in favour of draft resolution “L62”, titled “Implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction”, and in favour of the paragraphs related to Syria within it.
In his address before the UN General Assembly First Committee, which deals with disarmament and international security in New York, Olabi said adopting the draft resolution represents a qualitative step toward establishing the truth and doing justice for the Syrian people after years of deception and the concealment of facts.
According to the OPCW report issued on 22 January, the organisation has since reinforced its presence in Syria to facilitate inventory, destruction, and verification operations. The Office of Special Missions coordinates all investigations related to chemical weapons, including verification of official declarations and investigations into incidents involving the use of toxic chemicals as weapons.
Syria joined the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2013 under a strict verification regime and submitted an initial declaration about its chemical programme. However, it did not disclose the full weapons programme in what the OPCW report described as a failed attempt to mislead the international community about its scope and scale.
The OPCW Technical Secretariat independently confirmed the use of chemical weapons in Syria, whether by former Syrian forces or by non-state actors, including the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
With the fall of the Assad government in December 2024, an opportunity emerged for full disclosure of Syria’s chemical weapons programme and for ensuring its elimination in line with the convention.
More than 100 suspected chemical weapons sites
In April 2025, the OPCW revealed the existence of more than 100 sites suspected of containing chemical weapons in Syria, left behind after the fall of the former Syrian regime.
According to a report published by The New York Times, the number of sites exceeds previous estimates and represents a test for Syria’s new government.
It added that some of these sites are believed to be hidden in caves or in areas that are difficult to detect using satellite imagery, and that they may contain sarin gas in addition to chlorine and mustard gas.
The report said these sites were used for research, production, and storage of chemical weapons, noting that former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used weapons such as sarin and chlorine against opposition factions and Syrian civilians over more than a decade.
The OPCW said the updated figure was based on intelligence provided by member states, non-profit organisations, and external research.
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