Syria claims many dead after USled raids hit IS’ cache of poison gas

BEIRUT: The Syrian army said that an air strike by the US-led coalition hit poison gas supplies belonging to the Islamic State, releasing a toxic substance that killed “hundreds, including many civilians”.

The incident in the eastern Deir al-Zor province proved that Islamic State and al Qaedalinked militants “possess chemical weapons”, a statement by the army flashed on Thursday by Syrian state TV said.

US Air Force Colonel John Dorrian, a spokesman for the coalition, said it had carried out no air strikes in the area of Deir al-Zor at the time, calling the claim “incorrect and likely intentional misinformation”.

Syria and ally Russia say insurgents fighting the government have stocks of poison gas, seeking to pin the blame on the rebels for a chemical weapons attack that killed scores of people in northwest Syria on April 4.

MISDIRECTED US STRIKE KILLS ALLIED FIGHTERS A misdirected airstrike by the US-led coalition earlier this week killed 18 allied fighters battling IS in northern Syria, the US military said on Thursday.

The US Central Command said coalition aircraft were given the wrong coordinates by their partner forces, the Syrian Democratic Forces, for a strike intended to target IS militants south of their Tabqa stronghold, near the extremists’ de facto capital, Raqqa.