The July 2007 Syrian arms depot explosion was a blast in July 2007 at a Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

n military depot. Syria said the explosion was the accidental detonation of an ammunition dump, but later reports suggested it was the result of a Syrian chemical weapons experiment.

Official version

The explosion happened in Musalmiya, a city in northern Syria near Aleppo

Aleppo

Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...

, on July 26, 2007. Officials said that high summer temperatures of up to 50°C set off explosive materials at a military base, causing ammunition dump to explode. Fifteen soldiers were reported killed and 50 were wounded; Syria said the blast was "not the result of sabotage."

Skepticism

Jane's Defense Weekly published an article in September 2007 explaining purported inaccuracies in the Syrian account. They wrote that the explosion happened at 4.30 am, the coolest time of the day, when temperatures would not have reached 50°C. They also reported that the site was a secret weapons complex rather than an arms dump.

Instead of high temperatures, the explosion was caused when fuel caught fire in a laboratory as Syrian and Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

ian engineers attempted to load a mustard gas warhead onto a Scud

Scud

Scud is a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and exported widely to other countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name SS-1 Scud which was attached to the missile by Western intelligence agencies...

-C missile. Fifteen Syrian military personnel and "dozens" of Iranian engineers died in the explosion, Jane's reported. The blast also sent a chemical cloud of mustard gas as well as Sarin

Sarin

Sarin, or GB, is an organophosphorus compound with the formula [2CHO]CH3PF. It is a colorless, odorless liquid, which is used as a chemical weapon. It has been classified as a weapon of mass destruction in UN Resolution 687...

 and VX

VX

VX may refer to:* VX , a neurotoxic chemical warfare agent* ACES Colombia, a now-defunct airline, IATA code* vx, an airplane's best angle of climb airspeed; see V speeds...

 nerve gas across the facility.

Syria is believed to have an active chemical weapons program

Syria and weapons of mass destruction

Syria has allegedly researched, manufactured, and possessed weapons of mass destruction.Western non-governmental organizations have stated they believe Syria has an active chemical weapons program...

 as well as several hundred Scud missiles.

The reports coincided with speculation about the Israeli air strike on Syria

Operation Orchard

Operation Orchard was an Israeli airstrike on a nuclear reactor in the Deir ez-Zor region of Syria carried out just after midnight on September 6, 2007. The White House and Central Intelligence Agency later confirmed that American intelligence had also indicated the site was a nuclear facility...

earlier in September 2007, which was reported to have targeted a nuclear facility.