UK calls for inquiry into Syria ‘gas attack’
THE UK has called for an urgent investigation into reports of a poison gas attack in Syria which has killed at least 80 people, according to activists, rescuers and medics.
The Foreign Office said that if the reports are correct it would be further proof of Bashar Assad’s “brutality against innocent civilians” and the international community “must respond”. In a further sign of the tensions between Moscow and the West, the Foreign Office said the use of chemical weapons would be an indication that Assad’s international backers – including Russia – had shown a “callous disregard for international norms”.
The alleged attack in the town of Douma occurred on Saturday night amid a resumed offensive by Syrian government forces after the collapse of a truce. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 80 people were killed in Douma on Saturday, including about 40 who died from suffocation.
Opposition-linked first responders, known as the White Helmets, reported a death toll from suffocation of more than 40.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “These are very concerning reports of a chemical weapons attack with significant number of casualties, which if correct are further proof of Assad’s brutality against innocent civilians and his backers’ callous disregard for international norms. An urgent investigation is needed.”
PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has condemned what he called a “mindless chemical attack” in Syria that has killed women and children.
But the president offered no evidence to support the claim by Syrian opposition activists and rescuers that poison gas was used.
Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government is denying chemical weapons were used on a rebel-held town near Damascus, the capital.
President Trump said in a tweet on Sunday that the “area of atrocity is in lockdown and encircled by Syrian Army, making it completely inaccessible to outside world.”
He said Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran –influential Syrian backers – “are responsible for backing Animal Assad”.
President Trump is calling for the area to be opened “immediately for medical help and verification, adding: “Another humanitarian disaster for no reason whatsoever. Sick!”
The poison gas attack killed at least 40 people, according to Syrian opposition activists and rescuers.
The alleged attack in Douma occurred late on Saturday amid a resumed offensive by government forces after the collapse of a truce.
The reports could not be independently verified.
First responders, known as the White Helmets, reported the attack, saying entire families were found suffocated in their homes and shelters. It reported a death toll from suffocation of more than 40, saying the victims showed signs of gas poisoning including pupil dilation and foaming at the mouth. In a statement, it reported a smell resembling chlorine, which would not explain the described symptoms, usually associated with sarin gas.
It said about 500 people were treated for suffocation and other symptoms, adding that most medical facilities and ambulances were put out of service by the shelling.
The Syrian American Medical Society, a relief organisation, said 41 people were killed and hundreds wounded.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 80 people were killed in Douma on Saturday, including about 40 who died from suffocation, but it said the suffocations were the result of shelters collapsing.
Videos posted online by the White Helmets purportedly showed victims, including toddlers in nappies, breathing through oxygen masks at makeshift hospitals.
The Syrian government, in a statement posted on the staterun news agency Sana, strongly denied the allegations. It said the claims were “fabrications” by the Army of Islam rebel group, calling it a “failed attempt” to impede government advances.
Syrian government forces resumed their offensive on Friday afternoon after a 10-day truce collapsed.
Syria denies using chemical weapons during the seven-year civil war, and says it eliminated its chemical arsenal under a 2013 agreement.