In fighting in northwestern Syria toxic chlorine gas is said to have been used. This has been reported by different organisations. Nine people should have been injured.
There is no evidence yet, but the Syrian rescue organization White Helmets reports a renewed poison gas attack. Chlorine gas was used in the contested northwest of the country. In the rebel-held town of Sarakeb nine people were injured in the attack, including three helpers of the White Helmets.
Also, the opposition-oriented Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that several civilians had suffered from respiratory distress following an air strike by the Syrian government. Five civilians were hospitalized after government helicopters attacked several quarters of Sarakeb. The organization relies on a network of informants in Syria. Their details are difficult to verify independently but have proven to be true in the past.
Just Thursday, US Secretary of Defense James Mattis accused the Syrian regime under President Bashar al-Assad of continuing to produce and use chemical weapons, the US media reported. The Syrian Foreign Ministry rejected the allegations in a statement to the state news agency Sana. It was said that the entire chemical weapons inventory was transferred to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
Syria had joined the OPCW following a previous poison gas attack in 2013 under heavy international pressure and had agreed to the destruction of its chemical weapons stocks. So far it is unclear, however, whether Syria has actually handed over all stocks of the OPCW.
However, chlorine gas does not fall under the banned chemical weapons, as it may be used for civil purposes. However, the use as weapon is prohibited.
Source: dpa
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