Khan Shaykhun Chemical Attack (2017)
The Khan Shaykhun chemical attack occurred on April 4, 2017, when an air strike targeted the town of Khan Shaykhun in Syria, resulting in the deaths of at least eighty individuals due to exposure to toxic chemicals. This incident raised significant international concern and condemnation, particularly from the United States and several other nations, which attributed the attack to the Syrian government led by Bashar al-Assad. In response, the U.S. conducted missile strikes against a Syrian air base believed to be involved in the attack. The Syrian regime denied using chemical weapons, while Russia suggested that the strikes targeted a terrorist chemical munitions depot. Investigations confirmed the use of a nerve agent, likely sarin, and a United Nations report indicated increasing evidence that the Syrian military intentionally executed the attack. This incident heightened tensions between the U.S. and the al-Assad regime amidst the ongoing Syrian civil war, which began in 2011 and has seen the government combating various rebel groups and terrorist organizations. The ramifications of the attack reflect complex geopolitical dynamics and humanitarian concerns within the context of the conflict.
Subject Terms
Khan Shaykhun Chemical Attack (2017)
Date: April 4, 2017
Place: Khan Shaykhun, Syria
Summary
The Khan Shaykhun (also spelled Khan Sheikhoun) chemical attack was an air strike carried out on the town of Khan Shaykhun, Syria, on April 4, 2017, that led to the deaths of at least eighty people who were found to have suffered from exposure to toxic chemicals during the attack. The United States, placing blame (along with several other countries) for the attack and its alleged intentional use of chemical weapons against the rebel-held town on Syria’s reigning Bashar al-Assad regime, launched missile strikes against the Syrian air base believed to have been connected to the attack. The Syrian regime denied using chemical weapons and the Russian government argued that the attack had targeted a depot used by terrorists that had produced chemical munitions. However, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons announced in June 2017 that an investigation had confirmed that a nerve agent, likely sarin, had been used in the attack. By September, investigators from the United Nations reported that evidence increasingly supported the theory that the Syrian military had deliberately carried out a chemical attack.
Key Events
- April 4, 2017—An air strike in Syria targeting the town of Khan Shaykhun leaves more than eighty civilians dead in a suspected chemical attack; foreign countries, including the United States, condemn the attack and place blame on the Syrian regime, launching investigations.
- April 6, 2017—The Donald Trump administration announces that the US military has conducted a missile strike against the Syrian air base believed to have launched the chemical weapons attack on Khan Shaykhun.
- June 26, 2017—The Trump administration issues another warning to Syria as part of an accusation claiming that the al-Assad regime is preparing another chemical attack against its people.
Status
On June 26, 2017, the Donald Trump administration released a statement accusing the Bashar al-Assad regime of making similar preparations for another chemical attack and warned that the regime would “pay a heavy price” if it carried out such an action. As of September 2017, tensions remained high between the United States and al-Assad’s government, which has denied reports that the Syrian military has used chemical weapons and has condemned US interference in the region. The al-Assad regime has maintained that the United States made false accusations about the government’s use of a chemical attack as justification for carrying out a military strike in Syria. The Syrian government has been fighting rebels in a bloody civil war since 2011, and also continues to face threats from the Syrian-based terrorist organization Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which seeks to depose al-Assad and establish a traditionalist, conservative Islamic government.
In-Depth Overview
Bashar al-Assad has been president of Syria since 2000 and has been accused of enacting autocratic policies and using violence to quell opposition to his presidency. Not long after the Syrian civil war began in 2011, the United States government began offering various levels of support to rebel groups seeking to end the al-Assad regime. According to reports in 2017, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had been covertly providing arms, funding, and supplies to members of the Free Syrian Army since 2013. However, the Trump administration ended this support as of July 2017. Regardless, since 2014, the al-Assad government has been beleaguered by multiple threats, including terrorist violence and the military threat of ISIS.
In the early morning on April 4, 2017, a plane dropped bombs over the Syrian town of Khan Shaykhun. Those who arrived at the scene to provide aid to civilians in the area reported finding victims suffering from symptoms of asphyxiation characteristic of a chemical agent. Hours after the initial attack, another air strike targeted sites such as the hospital where victims were being treated. With the death toll climbing to higher than eighty over the subsequent days, many in the international community, including the United States, condemned the suspected intentional attack and accused the al-Assad regime of being behind the act of chemical warfare.
At the same time, the al-Assad regime denied having used chemical agents against its own people. The Russian government, a supporter of al-Assad, stated that the attack had been aimed at a depot used by terrorists for chemical munitions production. Unconvinced, the United States took military action on April 6, launching more than fifty Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian air base with an alleged link to the attack. A June 30 report from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confirmed that the April 4 attack involved the use of sarin or a similar nerve agent.
In early September 2017, it was announced that a UN commission had officially found, based on a significant amount of evidence from interviews, logs, satellite analyses, and photographs, that the Syrian government and military had been behind the chemical attack on April 4.
Key Figures
Bashar al-Assad: President of Syria.
Donald Trump: President of the United States who ordered a US strike against a Syrian air base in April 2017.
Bibliography
Cumming-Bruce, N. (2017, September 6). U.N. panel faults Syria’s military for chemical attack. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/06/world/middleeast/syria-chemical-weapons.html
Gordon, M. R., Cooper, H., & Shear, M. D. (2017, April 6). Dozens of U.S. missiles hit air base in Syria. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/world/middleeast/us-said-to-weigh-military-responses-to-syrian-chemical-attack.html
Loveluck, L., Fahim, K., & Habib, H. (2017, April 7). Syrian president Assad condemns U.S. missile strike as “arrogant aggression.” The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/outrage-and-indignation-in-syrian-state-media-as-us-launches-first-attack-on-assad/2017/04/07/fe4f6cf8-1b11-11e7-8598-9a99da559f9e‗story.html?utm‗term=.2dac6eab5240
Meuse, A. (2017, April 5). The view from Khan Shaykhun: A Syrian describes the attack’s aftermath. NPR. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/04/05/522093672/the-view-from-khan-shaykhun-a-syrian-describes-the-attacks-aftermath
OPCW fact-finding mission confirms use of chemical weapons in Khan Shaykhun on 4 April 2017. (2017, June 30). Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Retrieved from https://www.opcw.org/news/article/opcw-fact-finding-mission-confirms-use-of-chemical-weapons-in-khan-shaykhun-on-4-april-2017/
Syria chemical “attack”: What we know. (2017, April 26). BBC. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39500947