DHAKA: UN chemical weapons experts, in Syria to investigate alleged use of the banned arms, on Sunday left their Damascus hotel to carry out a new mission.

The experts, who arrived in the Syrian capital on last Wednesday on their second visit in two months, headed out on board four UN vehicles.

The United Nations has said the experts are investigating seven alleged chemical weapons attacks and expect to wind up their work on the ground on Monday.

They hope to have a comprehensive report ready ‘by late October’, reports gulfnews.com.

The UN mission is separate from a team of Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons inspectors due to start work in the coming days to destroy Syria’s chemical arsenal.

The alleged attacks being probed include a March 19 incident in Khan Al Assal, in Aleppo province of northern Syria, that both the regime and rebels reported, each accusing the other of responsibility.

Other sites being investigated include the Shaikh Maqsud neighbourhood of Aleppo city, allegedly the site of an April attack, and Saraqeb in the northwest province of Idlib on the border with Turkey.

BDST: 2030 HRS, SEPT 29, 2013
RoR/Jck