Syria: Anti-ISIL forces gain ground as Assad is blamed for ‘gas attack’

[webfact]

Syria: Anti-ISIL forces gain ground as Assad is blamed for ‘gas attack’

 

 

DAMASCUS: -- US-backed Kurdish-led fighters say they now control nearly three quarters of a strategic city in northern Syria, that was an ISIL stronghold.

 

Fierce combat has raged for two months, with thousands of residents said to be trapped inside Manbij.

 

Its loss would be a huge blow to ISIL which has used the city as a transit point for foreign jihadists and provisions from the Turkish border.

 

Manbij is in the northern province of Aleppo, which forms a theatre for several separate battles between multiple warring sides in Syria’s five-year-old conflict.

 

Separately in Syria, a rescue service operating in rebel-held territory says containers of gas have been dropped from the skies onto the town of Saraqeb, in rebel-held Idlib province.

 

That is close to where a Russian military helicopter was shot down on Monday, killing all five people on board.

 

The Syria Civil Defence group said more than 30 people, mostly women and children, were affected by the gas, which they suspect was chlorine.

 

A Civil Defence spokesman said it was the second time Saraqeb had been hit by toxic gas. The group was aware of around nine suspected chlorine gas incidents across Idlib province since the conflict began, he said.

 

The opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC) has blamed President Assad’s forces. Assad has denied previous accusations of using chemical weapons.

 

The SNC said of the reported use of poison gas in Saraqeb: “After shelling, besieging and killing civilians and perpetrating war crimes on them, the Assad regime has resorted once again, and in breach of UN resolutions 2118 and 2235, to using chemical substances and toxic gases.

 

“The daily reality confirms that all the international agreements and previous security council decisions, be they about chemical weapons or otherwise, are meaningless for the Assad regime.”

 

Government and opposition forces have both denied using chemical weapons during the five-year-old civil war. Western powers say the government has been responsible for chlorine and other chemical attacks. The government and Russia have accused rebels of using poison gas.

 

The US State Department said it was looking into reports of the gas attack on Saraqeb.

 

“If true, it would be extremely serious,” State Department spokesman John Kirby told a news briefing.

 

 

-- © Copyright Euronews 2016-08-03

[ukrules]

Very convenient. I'm no fan of Assad but I suspect there's a lot more to this than meets the eye.

 

I suspect foreign intervention.

[craigt3365]

4 minutes ago, ukrules said:

Very convenient. I'm no fan of Assad but I suspect there's a lot more to this than meets the eye.

 

I suspect foreign intervention.

Wouldn't be the first time Assad has used chemicals.  Since Assad won't allow outside media, you are right.  Anything is possible.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_chemical_weapons_in_the_Syrian_civil_war

[Ralf61]

1 hour ago, craigt3365 said:

Wouldn't be the first time Assad has used chemicals.  Since Assad won't allow outside media, you are right.  Anything is possible.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_chemical_weapons_in_the_Syrian_civil_war

 

So, where in this Wikipedia thing o somewhere else is confirmed Assad is to blame? Nothing but cheap propaganda. Are you for or against IS + friends? Tertium non datur...

[Rancid]

They tried to pin a gas attack on him years ago with the media, despite any proof, raging about it. After it was shown that he in fact didn't and the likely suspects were the opposition then the story completely disappeared, hmm. Can't help but suspect they are trying a rerun again, if at first you don't succeed...

[craigt3365]

25 minutes ago, Ralf61 said:

 

So, where in this Wikipedia thing o somewhere else is confirmed Assad is to blame? Nothing but cheap propaganda. Are you for or against IS + friends? Tertium non datur...

You did read the article, right?  And done some other research?  Plus, Assad is the PM!  Blame always lies at the top.

 

The UN has researched this extensively.  They may not be a perfect organization, but better than media outlet in Syria.  And they blame Assad.

 

Interesting read:

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/08/ghouta-chemical-attack-years-onward-150819141756348.html

[derator01]

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