Earlier this year it was widely reported that the nerve gas sarin was used in a deadly attack on a Syrian town in April - now the use of the banned weapon has been confirmed by investigation by the international chemical weapons watchdog.
However the report, released earlier today, stopped short of saying who was responsible for the attack on Khan Sheikhoun in Syria's Idlib province, which killed more than 100 people and left up to 300 others contaminated.
"I strongly condemn this atrocity, which wholly contradicts the norms enshrined in the Chemical Weapons Convention," Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Director-General Ahmet Uzumcu said in a statement.
Syrian President Bashar Assad denies responsibility for the attack. (Credit: PA Images)
"The perpetrators of this horrific attack must be held accountable for their crimes."
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At the time of the attack, the US blamed the Syrian military for the attack despite Syrian President Bashar Assad denying the use of chemical weapons, resulting in Donald Trump ordering a strike on a Syrian military base.
The findings of the investigation were released today and will now be used by a joint United Nations-OPCW investigation team to assess who was responsible, reports the Guardian.
In a statement yesterday, after the report was circulated to OPCW members, the US State Department said: "The facts reflect a despicable and highly dangerous record of chemical weapons use by the Assad regime."
US President Trump has claimed US intelligence indicated the Syrian regime was responsible for the use of the deadly chemical. (Credit: PA Images)
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin - an ally of Assad - said earlier this month that he believed the attack was 'a provocation' staged 'by people who wanted to blame' Assad.
Russia's Foreign Ministry has said the OPCW report was 'biased' and based on 'doubtful evidence', reports the Guardian.
"They don't know how the sarin ended up there, yet tensions have been escalating for all these months," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
But the UK foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, told Sky News that he had 'absolutely no doubt the finger points at the Assad regime'.
Russian President Putin has backed the Assad regime throughout the Syrian civil war. (Credit: PA Images)
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"The exact responsibility for dropping the sarin will now go to a joint investigative mechanism to be confirmed," he added.
"We will drive on with the UK campaign to impose sanctions on those responsible. People who drop chemical weapons on innocent people should be held to account."
In 2013, the Syrian government joined the OPCW after it was blamed for a deadly poison gas attack in the city of Damascus. At the time Assad's government declared 1,300 tons of chemical weapons and precursor chemicals that were subsequently destroyed.
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Source:The Guardian, Sky News
Featured Image Credit: PA ImagesTopics: Syria