Flash point in Syria after poison gas kills children
Tillerson dismissive of Assad’s denials
A child is treated Tuesday at a hospital in Khan Sheikhun, a rebel-held town in northwestern Syria, after suspected airstrikes by government forces. One of the largest chemical weapons attacks in Syria is expected to bring a fever pitch to U.S.-Syria relations in coming weeks, with the Trump administration facing a growing political and human rights dilemma.
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 ambulances to Idlib, the Turkish Anadolu news agency reported.
Syrian opposition health minister Firas Jundi put the death toll at more than 100 civilians and said 500 others, mostly children, were sickened or burned by the gas.
“I believe this horrible memory will stay with me for the rest of my life,” Jundi told CNN.
If it is confirmed as a chemical attack, it would be the largest in Syria since August 2013, when sarin gas killed hundreds of civilians in Ghouta near Damascus. Reuters reported that the U.S. government believes sarin may have also been used in the attack Tuesday.
The Syrian anti-government activist group Idlib Media Center published photos of young children receiving medical treatment, and a video showed what appeared to be bodies of children lined up on a blanket.
The Syrian government of President Bashar Assad denied using chemical weapons, but the U.S. and international communities were unconvinced.
In a statement, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson took aim at Russia and Iran.
“There are reports of dozens dead, including many children. While we continue to monitor the terrible situation, it is clear that this is how Bashar al-Assad operates: with brutal, unabashed barbarism,” the statement said. “Those who defend and support him, including Russia and Iran, should have no illusions about Assad or his intentions. Anyone who uses chemical weapons to attack his own people shows a fundamental disregard for human decency and must be held accountable.”
The statement also called on the countries to act. “As the selfproclaimed guarantors to the cease-fire negotiated in Astana, Russia and Iran also bear great moral responsibility for these deaths.”
The New York Times quoted an unnamed State Department official, who said that it appeared Russia was unable or unwilling to hold the Syrian government to the cease-fire terms.
The official said the attack on civilians appears to be a war crime.
“I believe this horrible memory will stay with me for the rest of my life.” Firas Jundi, Syrian opposition health minister