The last attack this big led to U.S. missile strike
A suspected weekend chemical attack in a Damascus suburb would be at least the eighth since President Trump took office and the worst since an assault last April spurred him to fire missiles at Syrian government forces.
At least 42 people died and 500 were injured late Saturday in the town of Douma, many of them while sheltering in basements during an artillery and bombing attack, rescue and medical workers told the Associated Press.
The assault is the worst since a sarin gas attack April 4, 2017, that killed 86 people in Khan Shaykhun. Two days later, the United States launched 59 cruise missiles on a Syrian air base the U.S. said was used to launch the sarin attack.
Syria’s chemical attacks continue because they make Syrian President Bashar Assad’s chronically undermanned forces more effective, and the Syrian leader believes he can use them with relative impunity, said Andrew Tabler, a Syria analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
“The reason they’re using it is to amplify the fear and make the military efforts easier so they can declare victory,” Tabler said. And because Russia is running interference for Assad at the U.N., “they think they can get away with it.”
Many chemical attacks have been documented since the Syrian civil war began in 2011, according to the United Nations’ Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic. All have been attributed to the government forces loyal to Assad and supported by Russia and Iran. The following occurred in 2017:
❚ July 1, 2 and 7, Ayn Tarma, Zamalka, Jowbar: Chlorine was used against Faylaq ar-Rahman fighters, 45 of whom experienced reddening eyes, profuse nasal secretions, coughing, choking and bronchial secretions.
❚ April 7, Al Hayat Hospital: Two men were admitted with symptoms of a chlorine attack.
❚ April 4, Khan Shaykhun: Sarin gas attack killed at least 85 people and injured hundreds.
❚ March 30, Al-Latamneh: Two bombs injured at least 85 people, including nine medical personnel.
❚ March 29, Qabun: A rocket released a cloud that smelled like chlorine and injured 35 people.
❚ March 25, Al-Latamneh Hospital: A helicopter dropped a chlorine barrel bomb, killing three men and injuring 32 people.
❚ Jan. 30, Sultan al-Mari: A chlorine attack near a front-line position injured 11 men.