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==Responsibility==
==Responsibility==
The chemical attack is widely attributed to the Syrian government.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us/us-attack-on-syria-world-leaders-react-1.3040251|title=US attack on Syria: world leaders react|work=The Irish Times|date=12 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1612692|title=An official source at Foreign Affairs Ministry expresses Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's strong support for US military operations on military targets in Syria|date=12 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-united-kingdom-with-our-allies-will-continue-to-seek-justice-for-the-victims-of-chemical-weapons-attacks-in-syria-and-elsewhere|title="The United Kingdom, with our allies, will continue to seek justice for the victims of chemical weapons attacks in Syria and elsewhere."|date=12 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rudaw.net/arabic/middleeast/070420172|title=الإمارات ثالث دولة خليجية تؤيد الهجوم الصاروخي الأمريكي على سوريا|date=12 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/russia-blames-syrian-rebels-for-devastating-chemical-attack-in-northern-town/2017/04/05/ba173c76-196a-11e7-8598-9a99da559f9e_story.html|title=World Health Organization: Syria chemical attack likely involved nerve agent|authors=Louisa Loveluck and Zakaria Zakaria|work=The Washington Post|date=5 April 2017}}</ref> Syria denied any involvement.<ref name="Loveluck2017">{{cite news|last1=Loveluck|first1=Louisa|last2=Zakaria|first2=Zakaria|title=World Health Organization: Syria chemical attack likely involved nerve agent|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/russia-blames-syrian-rebels-for-devastating-chemical-attack-in-northern-town/2017/04/05/ba173c76-196a-11e7-8598-9a99da559f9e_story.html|accessdate=5 April 2017|work=The Washington Post|date=5 April 2017}}</ref> Russia claimed that the deaths were a result of gas released when a government airstrike hit a rebel-operated chemical weapons factory.<ref name="Dewan">{{cite news|last1=Dewan|first1=Angela|last2=Yan|first2=Holly|title=Survivors of Syrian attack describe chemical bombs falling from sky|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/05/middleeast/idlib-syria-attack/|accessdate=5 April 2017|publisher=CNN|date=5 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="BBC452017">{{cite news|title=Syria chemical 'attack': What we know|url=http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39500947|accessdate=5 April 2017|publisher=BBC|date=5 April 2017}}</ref> The UN Security Council session unanimously declared the need for an investigation of the chemical attack.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/04/security-council-syria-attack-170406230140973.html|title=Security Council weighs options over Syria attack|work=Al Jazeera|date=8 April 2017}}</ref> According to [[Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons|OPCW]], its investigation into the attack is ongoing.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.opcw.org/news/article/media-brief-reported-use-of-chemical-weapons-southern-idlib-syria-4-april-2017/|title=Media Brief: Reported Use of Chemical Weapons, Southern Idlib, Syria, 4 April 2017|date=7 April 2017|publisher=OPCW|accessdate=9 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="CNNChanceDewan">{{cite web|author1=Matthew Chance|author2=Angela Dewan|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/06/middleeast/syria-idlib-chemical-attack/|title=Russia challenges Trump to say what he would do about Syria|date=7 April 2017|publisher=CNN|accessdate=9 April 2017}}</ref> Russia expressed support for an investigation by OPCW. Russia subsequently vetoed a Security Council draft resolution calling for an investigation by the UN.<ref name=":0" />
The responsiblity for the attack is disputed,<ref name="RitterPost">{{cite web|first=Scott|last=Ritter|author-link=Scott Ritter|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/06/middleeast/syria-idlib-chemical-attack/|title=Wag The Dog — How Al Qaeda Played Donald Trump And The American Media|date=9 April 2017|publisher=The Huffington Post|accessdate=9 April 2017|quote=Responsibility for the chemical event in Khan Sheikhoun is still very much in question... Some sort of chemical event took place in Khan Sheikhoun; what is very much in question is who is responsible for the release of the chemicals that caused the deaths of so many civilians.}}</ref> but by U.S. and their allies is widely blamed to the Syrian government.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us/us-attack-on-syria-world-leaders-react-1.3040251|title=US attack on Syria: world leaders react|work=The Irish Times|date=12 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1612692|title=An official source at Foreign Affairs Ministry expresses Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's strong support for US military operations on military targets in Syria|date=12 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-united-kingdom-with-our-allies-will-continue-to-seek-justice-for-the-victims-of-chemical-weapons-attacks-in-syria-and-elsewhere|title="The United Kingdom, with our allies, will continue to seek justice for the victims of chemical weapons attacks in Syria and elsewhere."|date=12 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rudaw.net/arabic/middleeast/070420172|title=الإمارات ثالث دولة خليجية تؤيد الهجوم الصاروخي الأمريكي على سوريا|date=12 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/russia-blames-syrian-rebels-for-devastating-chemical-attack-in-northern-town/2017/04/05/ba173c76-196a-11e7-8598-9a99da559f9e_story.html|title=World Health Organization: Syria chemical attack likely involved nerve agent|authors=Louisa Loveluck and Zakaria Zakaria|work=The Washington Post|date=5 April 2017}}</ref> Syria denied any involvement.<ref name="Loveluck2017">{{cite news|last1=Loveluck|first1=Louisa|last2=Zakaria|first2=Zakaria|title=World Health Organization: Syria chemical attack likely involved nerve agent|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/russia-blames-syrian-rebels-for-devastating-chemical-attack-in-northern-town/2017/04/05/ba173c76-196a-11e7-8598-9a99da559f9e_story.html|accessdate=5 April 2017|work=The Washington Post|date=5 April 2017}}</ref> Russia claimed that the deaths were a result of gas released when a government airstrike hit a rebel-operated chemical weapons factory.<ref name="Dewan">{{cite news|last1=Dewan|first1=Angela|last2=Yan|first2=Holly|title=Survivors of Syrian attack describe chemical bombs falling from sky|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/05/middleeast/idlib-syria-attack/|accessdate=5 April 2017|publisher=CNN|date=5 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="BBC452017">{{cite news|title=Syria chemical 'attack': What we know|url=http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39500947|accessdate=5 April 2017|publisher=BBC|date=5 April 2017}}</ref> The UN Security Council session unanimously declared the need for an investigation of the chemical attack.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/04/security-council-syria-attack-170406230140973.html|title=Security Council weighs options over Syria attack|work=Al Jazeera|date=8 April 2017}}</ref> According to [[Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons|OPCW]], its investigation into the attack is ongoing.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.opcw.org/news/article/media-brief-reported-use-of-chemical-weapons-southern-idlib-syria-4-april-2017/|title=Media Brief: Reported Use of Chemical Weapons, Southern Idlib, Syria, 4 April 2017|date=7 April 2017|publisher=OPCW|accessdate=9 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="CNNChanceDewan">{{cite web|author1=Matthew Chance|author2=Angela Dewan|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/06/middleeast/syria-idlib-chemical-attack/|title=Russia challenges Trump to say what he would do about Syria|date=7 April 2017|publisher=CNN|accessdate=9 April 2017}}</ref> Russia expressed support for an investigation by OPCW. Russia subsequently vetoed a Security Council draft resolution calling for an investigation by the UN.<ref name=":0" />


===Syrian opposition claims===
===Syrian opposition claims===

Revision as of 22:46, 13 April 2017

2017 Khan Shaykhun chemical attack
Part of the Syrian Civil War
TypeAirstrike, chemical attack (disputed; unidentified chemical, with sarin gas suspected)
Location
Khan Shaykhun, Idlib Governorate, Syria

35°26′20″N 36°39′4″E / 35.43889°N 36.65111°E / 35.43889; 36.65111
Date4 April 2017
06:30 EEST[1] (UTC+03:00)
Executed byDisputed
Casualties74–100+[2] killed
300–557+[2][3] injured
Khan Shaykhun is located in Syria
Khan Shaykhun
Khan Shaykhun
Location of Khan Shaykhun within Syria

The Khan Shaykhun chemical attack took place on 4 April 2017 on the town of Khan Shaykhun in the Idlib Governorate of Syria. At the time of the attack, the town was under the control of Tahrir al-Sham,[4][5][6][7] formerly known as the al-Nusra Front.[8][9] The town was struck by a heavy airstrike by government forces followed by massive civilian chemical poisoning.[3][10] The release of the toxic gas, likely sarin, killed at least 74 people and injured more than 557, according to the Idlib health authority.[2] The attack was the deadliest use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war since the Ghouta chemical attack in 2013.[11]

The governments of the United States, United Kingdom, Turkey and Israel blamed the attack on the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad,[12][13] The Assad government denied that it used any chemical weapons in the air strike. The Russian Defense Ministry said Syrian aircraft conducted an airstrike on a warehouse containing ammunition and equipment belonging to rebels near Khan Shaykhun, and suggested the warehouse "may have contained a rebel chemical arms stockpile".[14] Kareem Shaheen, the first western journalist to visit the town after the attack, looked at a random warehouse and found nothing but empty grain silos, dust and rubble.[15] The Syrian government has since claimed that the attack was a "100 per cent fabrication" intended to provide a pretext for the airstrike on the Shayrat Airbase.[16]

In response, on 7 April, the United States launched 59 cruise missiles at Shayrat Air Base, which U.S. intelligence believed was the source of the attack.[17][18]

Background

Main articles: Use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war and Destruction of Syria's chemical weapons

Use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Civil War has been confirmed by the local sources in Syria and by the United Nations. Deadly attacks by chemical weapons during the war include the Ghouta attack in the suburbs of Damascus in August 2013 and the Khan al-Assal attack in the suburbs of Aleppo in March 2013. While no party took responsibility for the chemical attacks, a U.N. fact-finding mission and a UNHRC Commission of Inquiry have both investigated the attacks.

The U.N. mission found likely use of the nerve agent sarin in the case of Khan al-Asal (19 March 2013), Saraqib (29 April 2013), Ghouta (21 August 2013), Jobar (24 August 2013) and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya (25 August 2013). The UNHRC commission later confirmed the use of sarin in the Khan al-Asal, Saraqib and Ghouta attacks, but did not mention the Jobar and the Ashrafiyat Sahnaya attacks. The UNHRC commission also found that the sarin used in the Khan al-Asal attack bore "the same unique hallmarks" as the sarin used in the Ghouta attack and indicated that the perpetrators likely had access to chemicals from the Syrian Army's stockpile. Those attacks prompted the international community to pressure disarmament of the Syrian Armed Forces from chemical weapons, which was executed during 2014. Despite the disarmament process, dozens of incidents with suspected use of chemical weapons followed throughout Syria.

In August 2016, a United Nations report explicitly blamed the Syrian military of Bashar al-Assad for dropping chemical weapons on the towns of Talmenes on 21 April 2014 and Sarmin on 16 March 2015.[19][20] Several other attacks have been alleged, reported and/or investigated. In December 2016, at least 53 people were killed in an alleged chemical weapons attack in ISIL-held villages near Uqairabat that bore similarities to the Ghouta attack, with none of the dead having blast injuries.[21][22] On 30 March 2017, an airstrike hit the town of al-Lataminah in the northern Hama Governorate, around 15 kilometers (9 miles) from Khan Shaykhun. More than 70 people in the area were then exposed to an unidentified chemical agent and showed symptoms of nausea, agitation, foaming, muscle spasm, and miosis (constriction of the pupil of the eye). Cardiac arrest occurred in two of the victims[23] and an orthopedic doctor died.[24]

Attack

Map showing frontlines at the time of the attack, with the location of the strike marked by the hatched circle

The attack took place around 6:30 a.m. local time on 4 April, before most children and parents had left for school or work.[1][25] Witnesses reported smelling a strange odor about ten minutes after a rocket attack and airstrike, followed by visible symptoms of poisoning.[26] White helmet workers reported that there were four unusually weak explosions.[27] Medical workers and witnesses indicated that the attack was different than the chlorine gas attacks they had experienced in the past, in which the chlorine gas usually killed a few people in confined spaces and buildings. In contrast, in this attack, many people died outside. Furthermore, the victims exhibited pinpoint pupils, a sign of contact with nerve agents and sarin specifically.[28][29] Other symptoms reported included coldness in the extremities, decreased heart rate, and low blood pressure.[26] Some first responders died immediately at the scene[28] and some first responders became ill when they came into contact with the victims.[25] According to the Turkish health ministry, medical tests have confirmed the presence of isopropyl methylphosphonic acid — a known byproduct of sarin reacting with other compounds — in blood and urine samples of the victims. The rebels claimed the site of the aircraft launched chemical weapons attack was a blackened crater approximately 1 foot deep by 6 feet in circumference with the remains of an exploded 122mm artillery shell in it.[30]

Casualties

Medical sources in Idlib in the immediate aftermath of the attack reported more than 58 people, including 11 children, were killed and over 300 were wounded.[3]

By 7:30 a.m. EEST 100 wounded people had arrived at a local field hospital. Minister of health, Mohamad Firas al-Jundi, said that victims experienced suffocation, fluid in the lungs, foaming at the mouth, unconsciousness, spasm, and paralysis.[28] A few hours after the attack, a nearby clinic treating victims was hit by an airstrike. The area's largest hospital had been bombed two days prior.[28] According to Dr. Abdel Hay Tennari, who treated 22 victims of the attack, the symptoms of victims are corresponding to symptoms of exposure to sarin. Patients who received pralidoxime, an antidote of sarin, reportedly stabilized their medical state in around an hour.[31]

On 5 April, local doctors and rescue workers at the scene said that the number of dead had risen to 74, with 600 injured,[32] while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and French Ambassador to the United Nations François Delattre said that over 100 had died.[33]

Rescue workers gathered soil and tissue samples and sent them to Western intelligence officials for analysis.[34][35] On 6 April, the Turkish Ministry of Health, which had conducted tests on people transported to Turkey, said that it had identified the chemical used in the attack as sarin, citing lung damage found in victims.[35]

Responsibility

The responsiblity for the attack is disputed,[36] but by U.S. and their allies is widely blamed to the Syrian government.[37][38][39][40][41] Syria denied any involvement.[34] Russia claimed that the deaths were a result of gas released when a government airstrike hit a rebel-operated chemical weapons factory.[42][43] The UN Security Council session unanimously declared the need for an investigation of the chemical attack.[44] According to OPCW, its investigation into the attack is ongoing.[45][46] Russia expressed support for an investigation by OPCW. Russia subsequently vetoed a Security Council draft resolution calling for an investigation by the UN.[47]

Syrian opposition claims

According to the Idlib Media Centre, the chemical agent had the characteristics of sarin. The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces accused the Ba'athist Syrian government and the Syrian Armed Forces of carrying out the attack and called for an immediate investigation by the United Nations Security Council.[3]

Syrian government claims

On the day of the attack, a Syrian government official told Reuters that "the government does not and has not used chemical weapons, not in the past and not in the future."[48] The pro-government Al-Masdar News cited an army source as saying it had attacked a missile factory in the town using Sukhoi Su-22 bombers, whose bombs Al-Masdar News says cannot be filled with any chemical substances, and did not know the factory contained chemicals.[49] The use of Sukhoi Su-22 aircraft in the attack was also noted by pro-rebel sources (SOHR).[50] Later, the Russian Ministry of Defence reiterated the statement made by the Syrian Armed Forces, but said the attack on the ammunition depot took place between 11:30 and 12:30 EEST.[51]

In an April 13 interview, President Assad stated that the attack "100 per cent fabrication" by the United States "working hand-in-glove with the terrorists," intended to provide a pretext for the airstrike on the Shayrat Airbase.[52][53] Assad stated: "You have a lot of fake videos now… We don’t know whether those dead children were killed in Khan Sheikhun. Were they dead at all?” According to numerous eyewitnesses and reporters on the ground, children did in fact die in the attack.[54]

According to Jerry Smith, the leader of the UN-backed operation that removed the Syrian government's chemical weapons stockpiles, "if it is Sarin that was stored there and conventional munitions were used, there is every possibility that some of those [chemical] munitions were not consumed and that the Sarin liquid was ejected and could well have affected the population."[55]

Walid Muallem, the Syrian foreign minister told journalists at a press conference in Damascus that their armed forces "did not and will not" use chemical weapons, even against "terror groups" fighting against the Syrian government. Muallem also said that "the first reports of the chemical attack appeared several hours before the government airstrike, indicating that the chemical attack may have been a cruel and cynical 'false flag' operation used by the jihadists in a bid for US support."[14] Muallem also promised to provide information to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the United Nations regarding the transfer of chemical substances from Iraq to Syria, or from Turkey to Syria.[56]

Russian government claims

President Vladimir Putin said the attack could be a provocation, but that several versions were possible, and that the UN should investigate the attack.[57][58] According to US administration, Russia bears responsibility for the chemical attack because it participates in the Syrian Civil War to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who conducted the strike. However, the Russian government denied involvement in the chemical attack; Russia's defence ministry issued a statement saying that the Russian Air Force had "not carried out any strikes near Khan Shaykhun of Idlib province", [59] but said a Syrian aircraft did conduct an airstrike on a warehouse containing ammunition and equipment belonging to rebels near Khan Shaykhun, "yesterday, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m".[14][43] The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was "premature to accuse the Syrian government of using chemical weapons in Idlib", and that insist on full and impartial investigation.[46][60] Kareem Shaheen, the first western journalist to visit the town after the attack, looked at a random warehouse and found nothing but empty grain silos, dust and rubble. [61]

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the use of chemical weapons is a "dangerous and monstrous crime" and that Russia's support for Assad is not "unconditional". He also said he doubted that information was based on "objective materials or evidence", and remarked that only Syrian government can resist "terrorists on the ground."[62]

Independent analysis

RT reported that Theodore Postol, an American professor at MIT, analyzed the evidence referenced in the unclassified intelligence assessment released by the Trump White House and concluded that the assessment “contains absolutely no evidence that this attack was the result of a munition being dropped from an aircraft” and that photographic evidence used in the assessment pointed to an attack by people on the ground using a 122mm artillery rocket tube filled with a chemical agent and detonated by an explosive charge laid on top of it.[63]

US reaction

According to the US government, the Syrian government under Assad was behind the chemical attack,[28] and Syrian jets carried out the bombing of a rebel stronghold.[60] U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was quoted as saying "Either Russia has been complicit or Russia has been simply incompetent".[64] According to Tillerson, the U.S. appealed to Assad to cease the use of chemical weapons, and "[o]ther than that, there is no change to our military posture",[65] with ISIS remaining the primary priority.[66][67]

President Donald Trump called the attack "reprehensible" and attributed it to the Syrian government, saying the act could not be ignored "by the civilized world" during his meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan.[68][69][70] Trump also blamed the attack on supposed failures of the administration of his predecessor, Barack Obama.[70][71] U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said: "Anyone who uses chemical weapons to attack his own people shows a fundamental disregard for human decency and must be held accountable."[70][72] 72 hours after the attack, the US launched cruise missiles at the Shayrat airfield, from which the chemical attack was believed to have originated.[17] US representative to the UN Nikki Haley has stated that, though before the chemical attack the US had not considered overthrowing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power a top US priority, it is now prominent among US priorities in the region.[66] At the UN Security Council, Haley stated that "When the United Nations consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action",[73] by it implying if the UN failed to hold Assad accountable for the use of chemical weapons on civilians, the US will.[74]

On April 11, Secretary James Mattis and General Joseph Votel held a press conference at the Pentagon, stating that Syria had conducted a chemical attacks, with Votel testifying that these were probably undertaken from the airfield which the United States Central Command had struck. Votel stated that the Central Command achieved its objective to limit the capabilities of Syria's offensive resources and that Syrian personnel were not targeted in these strikes. Mattis concluded that his command is embedded in the global strategy whose main concern is the ISIL, and that the airstrike, which had nothing to do with ISIL, was made "so the bar not become lower" whenever international treaties are broken.[75][failed verification]

Military response

Main article: 2017 Shayrat missile strike
USS Ross firing a Tomahawk missile towards the Shayrat Airbase

On the morning of 7 April, 2017, the United States launched 59 cruise missiles on Shayrat Airbase, a Syrian airfield near Shayrat, believed to be the base for the aircraft that carried out the chemical attack.[17] In contrast to the coalition's accidental air raid on Deir ez-Zor in 2016, this was both a unilateral action and the first intentional strike against the Syrian government.[76][77]

International reactions

Supranational and non-governmental organizations

Secretary-General António Guterres said that he was "deeply disturbed" by reports of the Idlib chemical attack, noting that the use of chemical weapons is banned under international law.[78] Federica Mogherini, the European Union's diplomatic chief, called the attack "awful" and said that Bashar al-Assad's government bore "primary responsibility" for it.[79]

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) expressed "serious concern" and said that its Fact-Finding Mission in Syria was "gathering and analysing information from all available sources."[80] The following day, the Technical Secretariat of the OPCW, referring to the media reports, requested all member states of the Chemical Weapons Convention to share available information on what it described preliminary as "allegations of use of chemical weapons in the Khan Shaykhun area of Idlib province in the Syrian Arab Republic."[81] Amnesty International said the evidence points to an "air-launched chemical attack",[82] while the World Health Organization said that victims carried the signs of exposure to nerve agents.[82]

Countries

France called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council after the attack.[83][84] France, Britain, and the United States (who are among the permanent members of the Security Council), circulated a draft to the Council's 15 members condemning the attack in Syria and demanding a full investigation into it. The emergency closed-door meeting was set on 5 April in New York.[85][86] US ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, serving as council president for the month, announced there would not be a vote on a draft resolution to respond to the chemical weapons attack, but instead of one resolution by US and second by Russia, there was a third resolution unexpectedly submitted by Sweden and nine other non-permanent members. When the council concluded its meeting without conclusion, on the morning of 6 April U.S. launched the missiles strike.[87]

Canadan Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: "There are continuing questions ... about who is responsible for these horrible attacks against civilians, and that's why I'm impressing on the UN Security Council to pass a strong resolution that allows the international community to determine first of all who was responsible for these attacks and how we will move forward."[88] Egyptian foreign ministry released a statement saying that the "painful and unacceptable" images of the massacre reaffirm the necessity of reaching a political solution to end the crisis in Syria, in light of the international community decisions and Security Council Resolution 2254, as well as the Geneva Conventions.[89] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the international community "to fulfill its obligation from 2013 to fully and finally remove these horrible weapons from Syria".[90] Other countries who condemned the chemical attack include Italy,[91] Pakistan,[92] Saudi Arabia,[93] Switzerland,[94] United Kingdom,[85]

Iraqi government condemned the chemical attack and called for an "initiative aimed at punishing those responsible". The next day, Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr also condemned the attacks and called for President Assad to step down.[95] Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said if al-Assad was found to be behind the attack, as the United States believe, it represented "a shocking war crime."[96] Other countries who accused Assad for responsibility include Qatar,[97] and Turkey.[98][99]

Iranian Foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi condemned "all use of chemical weapons," but suggested the blame for the attack lay with "terrorist groups" rather than the Syrian government.[100]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Francis, Ellen (4 April 2017). "Scores reported killed in gas attack on Syrian rebel area". Beirut. Reuters. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "Idlib town reels following major chemical attack: 'No rebel positions, just people'". Syria:direct. 5 April 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d "Syria conflict: 'Chemical attack' in Idlib kills dozens". BBC. 4 April 2017.
  4. ^ SOHRkhan (14 February 2017). "اشتباكات هيئة تحرير الشام وتنظيم جند الأقصى تخلف نحو 70 قتيل بين الطرفين… والأخير يخسر 9 بلدات وقرى خلال الـ 48 ساعة الفائتة". Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  5. ^ Charkatli, Izat (23 February 2017). "Over 2,000 radical rebels defect to ISIS following intra-rebel deal".
  6. ^ "Search for the dead begins in Idlib after Islamic State-linked brigade leaves for Raqqa". Syria Direct. 22 February 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  7. ^ Chris Tomson (16 February 2017). "Jund al-Aqsa completely besieged by rival rebel factions around two towns in Idlib". al-Masdar News.
  8. ^ "Tahrir al-Sham: Al-Qaeda's latest incarnation in Syria". BBC News. 28 February 2017
  9. ^ "Death toll rises in Syria 'gas attack'". Deutsche Welle. 4 April 2017.
  10. ^ "Witness of Syria chemical attack gives graphic account as death toll climbs". www.thenational.ae. 6 April 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2017. The warplane dropped three conventional explosive bombs – and a fourth that made little sound on impact but produced a cloud of smoke.
  11. ^ "Syria 'toxic gas' attack kills 100 in Idlib province". Al-Arabiya & AFP. 4 April 2017.
  12. ^ Theodore Schleifer and Dan Merica. "Trump: 'I now have responsibility' when it comes to Syria". CNN. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  13. ^ "Syria chemical 'attack': Russia faces fury at UN Security Council". BBC. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  14. ^ a b c "'Chemical Weapons': The Pipedream Excuse Used in Syria by Two US Administrations". Sputnik News. 9 April 2017.
  15. ^ Shaheen, Kareem (6 April 2017). "'The dead were wherever you looked': inside Syrian town after gas attack". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  16. ^ "Syria's Assad says chemical attack '100 percent fabrication'". Agence France Presse. 13 April 2017.
  17. ^ a b c "Syria war: US launches missile strikes following chemical 'attack'". BBC News. 7 April 2017.
  18. ^ US strikes on Syrian base: what we know – AFP. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  19. ^ Syria Used Chlorine in Bombs Against Civilians, Report Says. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  20. ^ "Third report of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons United Nations Joint Investigative Mechanism". 24 August 2016.
  21. ^ Martin Chulov and Kareem Shaheen (13 December 2016). "International concern over claims of chemical weapon attack in Syria". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  22. ^ "Syrian Observatory reports suspected gas attack in Islamic State area near Palmyra". Reuters. 12 December 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  23. ^ "Breaking: Chemical Weapons Attack in Latamneh, Hama Injures 70". Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations. 30 March 2017.
  24. ^ "Warplanes strike near Syria's Hama as army counter-attacks". Reuters. 30 March 2017. Speaking to Reuters from Turkey, Abdallah Darwish, head of the health authority for rebel-held parts of Hama province, said air strikes in the south of Latamneh on Thursday morning had injured many people. "The bombardment had a substance that caused intense irritation, heavy foaming from the mouth, and constricting pupils", said Darwish, citing his medical staff on the ground. A chemical attack hit the same area on Saturday, killing an orthopedic doctor, Darwish added.
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