New Syrian chem horror
Dozens killed by chlorine bomb
Dozens of Syrian civilians — many of them children — died Saturday in brutal chemical attacks launched by President Bashar alAssad’s regime against a rebel stronghold, officials and humanitarian groups said.
At least 70 people were killed and 500 injured in the eastern Ghouta town of Douma, Sky News reported, citing the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations, which has links to opposition forces.
Volunteer rescue force The White Helmets posted on social media images of lifeless kids foaming at the mouth.
“Entire families in shelters gassed to death in #Douma #EastGhouta hiding in their cellars, suffocated from the poisonous gas bringing the initial death toll to more than 40. @SyriaCivilDefe is still in the process of rescue and recovery,” The White Helmets tweeted.
Raed al-Saleh, head of the White Helmets, told Al Jazeera news agency, that the death toll was expected to rise.
“White Helmet volunteers are trying to help the people, but all that we can do is evacuate them to another area by foot because most of the vehicles and centers went out of service,” Al-Saleh said.
Moayed al-Dayrani, a Douma resident and medical volunteer, told Al Jazeera that doctors were struggling to get to the wounded.
“We are currently dealing with more than 1,000 cases of people struggling to breathe after a chlorine barrel bomb was dropped on the city,” al-Dayrani said. “The number of dead will probably rise even further.”
A hospital was hit during the attack, killing six people injured by the chloride bomb, according to the medical relief organization Syrian American Medical Society.
The State Department called for international condemnation of the attack.
“Reports from a number of contacts and medical personnel on the ground indicate a potentially high number of casualties, including among families hiding in shelters,” department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said. “These re- ports, if confirmed, are horrifying and demand an immediate response by the international community.”
Given the brutal track record of al-Assad, Damascus and its Russian backers have to be stopped, US officials said.
“The United States continues to use all efforts available to hold those who use chemical weapons in Syria . . . accountable,” Nauert said. “The [Syrian] regime’s history of using chemical weapons against its own people is not in dispute.”
Syrian state media denied that there were any chemical attacks and accused anyone of saying so of spreading fake news. Damascus has previously denied using gas.
State news agency SANA said the rebel group in Douma is making “chemical attack fabrications in an exposed and failed attempt to obstruct advances by the Syrian Arab army.”