Rocket event in Syrian Arab Republic on Wed 21st August 2013

This report details two alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria on the opposition-controlled Damascus suburbs of Eastern and Western Ghouta, located 16 kilometers apart, on the morning of August 21, 2013. The attacks killed hundreds of civilians, including large numbers of children. Human Rights Watch analyzed witness accounts of the rocket attacks, information on the likely source of the attacks, the physical remnants of the weapon systems used, and the medical symptoms exhibited by the victims of the attack as documented by medical staff.

Our investigation finds that the August 21 attacks were likely chemical weapons attacks using a surface-to-surface rocket system of approximately 330mm in diameter—likely Syrian-produced—and a Soviet-era 140mm surface-to-surface rocket system to deliver a nerve agent. Evidence suggests the agent was most likely Sarin or a similar weapons-grade nerve agent. Three local doctors told Human Rights Watch that victims of the attacks showed symptoms which are consistent with exposure to nerve gas, including suffocation; constricted, irregular, and infrequent breathing; involuntary muscle spasms; nausea; frothing at the mouth; fluid coming out of noses and eyes; convulsing; dizziness; blurred vision; and red and irritated eyes, and pin-point pupils. The evidence concerning the type of rockets and launchers used in these attacks strongly suggests that these are weapon systems known and documented to be only in the possession of, and used by, Syrian government armed forces. Human Rights Watch and arms experts monitoring the use of weaponry in Syria have not documented Syrian opposition forces to be in the possession of the 140mm and 330mm rockets used in the attack, or their associated launchers. The Syrian government has denied its responsibility for the attack, and has blamed opposition groups, but has presented no evidence to back up its claims.

Based on the available evidence, Human Rights Watch finds that Syrian government forces were almost certainly responsible for the August 21 attacks, and that a weapons-grade nerve agent was delivered during the attack using specially designed rocket delivery systems. The scale and coordinated nature of the two attacks; against opposition-held areas; the presence of government-controlled potential launching sites within range of the targets; the pattern of other recent alleged chemical weapon attacks against opposition-held areas using the same 330mm rocket delivery system; and the documented possession of the 140mm and 330mm rocket systems able to deliver chemical weapons in the government arsenal—all point towards Syrian government responsibility for the attacks.

Human Rights Watch has investigated alternative claims that opposition forces themselves were responsible for the August 21 attacks, and has found such claims lacking in credibility and inconsistent with the evidence found at the scene. Claims that the August 21 deaths were caused by an accidental explosion by opposition forces mishandling chemical weapons in their possession are inconsistent with large numbers of deaths at two locations 16 kilometers apart, and documentation of rocket attacks on the sites that morning, as evidenced by witness accounts, the damage visible on the rockets themselves, and their impact craters. The witness identified a rocket as the weapon he saw on the scene after the strike.

He told Human Rights Watch that in the days following the strike, the United Nations Mission to Investigate Allegations of the Use of Chemical Weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic (the UN Mission) visited the site, examined the remnant, and took it with them, presumably for further analysis. A second witness who works for the Moadamiya media center told Human Rights Watch that he counted seven rockets that fell in two areas of Moadamiya during the early morning of August 21.

He told Human Rights Watch that four rockets impacted next to the Rawda Mosque, and the other three in the area between Qahweh Street and Zeytouneh Street, which he identified as being approximately 500 meters to the east of the Rawda Mosque. According to the witness, all of the rockets were of the same type, identified by Human Rights Watch as a Soviet-produced 140mm rocket (see below). From a review of a video of an expended rocket motor found on the street next to the Rawda Mosque in Moadamiya, Human Rights Watch has identified one of the rockets found in the Moadamiya attack as a Soviet-era surface-to-surface 140mm rocket, known as the M-14.

A separate video shot on August 27 shows UN inspectors measuring and photographing this rocket motor, which confirmed the remnant’s length and width correspond with the dimensions of the Soviet 140mm rocket motor.

The first video clearly shows the 10 venture (exhaust nozzles) and electric contact plate of the rocket, which is a unique identification characteristic of the Soviet-made 140mm rocket, as well as the factory markings on the casing of the rocket, making the identification definitive. The 179 factory markings on the rocket refer to the soviet-era “Factory 179” in Novosibirsk, one of the largest producers of artillery and rockets during the Soviet period, and a known manufacturer of the 140mm M-14 rocket. The expended rocket motor visible in the videos represents only part of the delivery system and not the weapon’s payload. To date, no visual evidence of any type of intact or expended 140mm rocket warhead has been identified in videos shot in the areas of the August 21 attack.

The 140mm rocket is documented in standard reference materials as being present in the Syrian government’s weapons arsenal. Designed in the 1950s, the Soviet Union transferred 200 BM-14 launchers, the most common launcher for 140mm rockets made by the Soviet Union, to Syria in 1967-1969, presumably along with stockpiles of ammunition including 140mm rockets, according to the database on arms transfers maintained by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

According to a declassified US munitions catalogue and standard international reference materials published by Jane’s, only three warheads were produced for 140mm rockets: M-14-OF high explosive-fragmentation; M-14-D smoke containing white phosphorus; A chemical warhead containing 2.2 kilograms of Sarin. Based on witness statements describing the impact of the rockets and the absence of rocket remnants or reported types of injuries consistent with an attack using high explosive or incendiary payloads, Human Rights Watch believes there is little possibility that the rocket could have been carrying high explosive or incendiary payloads. Given the large number of casualties, this leaves a chemical agent warhead as a strong remaining possibility, which would be consistent with the symptoms displayed by the victims. According to declassified reference guides, the 140mm artillery rocket has a minimum range of 3.8 kilometers and a maximum range of 9.8 kilometers. Two witnesses told Human Rights Watch that the August 21 rocket attack on their area came from the direction of the Mezzeh Military Airport and the nearby Syrian 4th Armored Division base, which are located respectively four kilometers and five to seven kilometers from the site of the attack, and thus within the range of possible launching sites. The projected likely launch zone for the 140mm rocket impact near the Rawda Mosque encompasses multiple Syrian government military bases, training facilities, surface-to-air missile sites, the 4th Armored Division base, as well as the eastern section of the Mezzeh Military Airport. Human Rights Watch has closely monitored the types of munitions and weapons used in the Syrian conflict, and has extensively reported on unlawful use of weapons by Syrian government forces, including heavy 240mm mortars against populated areas, antipersonnel mines, indiscriminate air-dropped bombs, at least six types of cluster munitions, incendiary weapons against civilians, and indiscriminate tactical ballistic missiles. However, the attack on Moadadiya on August 21 represents the first known appearance of the 140mm rocket, which has not been documented in use in the current Syrian conflict. Human Rights Watch is not aware of any information indicating that opposition forces are in possession of the 140mm rocket, and its associated launching system.