US Officials Say Both Chlorine and Nerve Agent Found in Syria Attack

The U.S. has proof of a chemical weapons attack from last week’s attack by Syrian forces and with both blood and urine samples from the victims now say that there is no doubt that they were hit with a chemical weapon.

The samples suggested the presence of both chlorine gas and an unnamed nerve agent, two officials said. Typically, such samples are obtained through hospitals and collected by U.S. or foreign intelligence assets on the ground. The officials said they were “confident” in the intelligence, though not 100 percent sure.

The Assad regime is known to have stocks of the nerve agent sarin, and has previously used a mixture of chlorine and sarin in attacks, say U.S. officials.

Officials also said that the U.S. has compiled intelligence from the U.S. and other countries, including images, that indicate the Syrian government was behind the weekend attack.

Activists and aid groups say that dozens died in Saturday’s airborne assault on Douma, the last rebel stronghold in eastern Ghouta, which has been subjected to intensive bombing by Syria’s Russian-backed Assad regime.

Russia and Syria have denied any involvement in the alleged chemical attack.

U.S. officials say the Assad regime has conducted multiple chlorine attacks on rebels during the past six months.

Intelligence officials are presenting their findings to the President which show that the attacks clearly originated from Assad’s forces. In April of 2017, Syrian forces used a mixture of chlorine and sarin in another attack. The US responded with a Tomahawk cruise missile attack on the airbase from which the attack originated from.

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