Khan Shaykhun chemical attack

2017 Khan Shaykhun chemical attack
Part of the Syrian Civil War
Khan Shaykhun Location of Khan Shaykhun within Syria
Type	Airstrike, sarin attack (or a sarin-like substance)
Location	Khan Shaykhun, Idlib Governorate, Syria 35°26′20″N 36°39′4″E / 35.43889°N 36.65111°E / 35.43889; 36.65111
Date	4 April 2017 06:30 EEST (UTC+03:00)
Executed by	Assad government (Disputed)
Casualties	74–100+ killed 300–557+ injured

The Khan Shaykhun chemical attack took place on 4 April 2017 on the town of Khan Shaykhun in the Idlib Governorate of Syria. At the time of the attack, the town was under the control of Tahrir al-Sham, formerly known as the al-Nusra Front. The town was reported to have been struck by a heavy airstrike by government forces followed by massive civilian chemical poisoning. The release of the toxic gas, which included sarin, or a similar substance, killed at least 74 people and injured more than 557, according to the Idlib health authority. The attack was the deadliest use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war since the Ghouta chemical attack in 2013.

The attack was conducted by the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad according to international human rights organizations and governments of the United States, United Kingdom, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, France, and Israel. The Assad government denied using any chemical weapons in the air strike. The Russian Defense Ministry said Syrian aircraft bombed a warehouse belonging to rebels which "may have contained a rebel chemical arms stockpile".

In response, on 7 April, the United States launched 59 cruise missiles at Shayrat Air Base, which U.S. intelligence believed was the source of the attack.

Use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Civil War has been confirmed by the local sources in Syria and by the United Nations. Deadly attacks by chemical weapons during the war include the Ghouta attack in the suburbs of Damascus in August 2013 and the Khan al-Assal attack in the suburbs of Aleppo in March 2013. While no party took responsibility for the chemical attacks, a U.N. fact-finding mission and a UNHRC Commission of Inquiry have both investigated the attacks.