Snipers attack U.N. chemical weapons team in Syria

BEIRUT -- A convoy carrying a United Nations team investigating allegations of chemical weapons use in Syria was fired on Monday by snipers, forcing the group to turn back, the U.N. said.


The attack occurred on the team’s first day of work looking into controversial allegations of a poison-gas bombardment last week in the Damascus suburbs.

The team’s task involves the dangerous job of traveling from relatively secure, government-controlled areas of central Damascus to contested areas east of the capital where armed rebels are heavily active. The inspectors must enter what is in essence a war zone.

“The first vehicle of the Chemical Weapons Investigation Team was deliberately shot at multiple times by unidentified snipers,” the U.N said in a statement issued from its headquarters in New York. “As the car was no longer serviceable, the team returned safely back to the government check point. The team will return to the area after replacing the vehicle.”

No U.N. personnel were injured in the incident, a spokesman said. The U.N. inspection team is unarmed.

The convoy carrying the 20-member U.N. contingent reportedly left a hotel in Damascus early Monday en route for the major site of last week’s alleged chemical attack.

The U.N. made no determination as to who was behind the sniper volleys, but called on all combatants to respect the neutrality of the mission and to withhold fire.

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