‘INTOLERABLE’: WORLD REACTS TO DEADLY SYRIAN GAS ATTACK

Tillerson dismissive of Assad’s denials

USA TODAY

The United Nations, world leaders and human rights groups are pushing for sanctions and a new global outlook on Syria in the wake of its suspected deadly chemical attack that the White House describes as a wake-up call to “the civilized world.”

Scores of civilians and children died Tuesday after plumes of either chlorine or the nerve agent sarin shrouded sections of a modest village in northern Syria, the largest suspected use of chemical weapons since 2013.

Human rights reports said the gas appeared to be a virulent deadly strain and covered a wider area than past attacks, with many victims collapsing outdoors

The U.N. Security Council called an emergency session for Wednesday to discuss the attack.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the assault, which killed nearly 60 and burned hundreds, “cannot be ignored by the civilized world.” He steered blame at the Obama administration in part for “weakness and irresolution” toward Syria. The Trump administration is assessing what action it would take.

“President Obama said in 2012 that he would establish a ‘a red line’ against the use of chemical weapons and then did nothing,” Spicer said. “The United States stands with our allies across the globe to condemn this intolerable attack.”

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based monitoring group, said 58 people died in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in northern Idlib province, including 11 children. The death toll is likely to rise, the group said.

Turkey said it dispatched 30

MOHAMED AL-BAKOUR, AFP/GETTY IMAGES A child receives treatment Tuesday after a suspected toxic gas attack in Khan Sheikhoun, a rebel-held town in the Idlib province in northern Syria. Scores of civilians and children died.