March 18, 2015

Chlorine gas Assad's new weapon

editor:	Neelo Aysha Scholz

A family of six, three of them children under the age of three died from a chlorine gas attack at the hands of their own government in Idlib, northern Syria. Around 100 others were exposed to toxic levels of chlorine after Syrian armed forces helicopters dropped four barrels containing the gas in two separate attacks on the evening of March 16th.

Caught up in a nightmare being played out with powerful support, the victims were Warf Mohammad Taleb, his mother Ayoush Hassan Qaq, his wife Ala al-Jati, and their three children: Sara Taleb, A’isha Taleb, and Mohamad Taleb. The attack would have induced shortness of breath to begin with, reddened eyes, continuous coughing, respiratory distress, vomitting and drooling from the mouth before they would have succumbed to death.

Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa Programme Director at Amnesty International said, “These horrific attacks that resulted in civilians, including small children, suffering excruciating deaths, are yet more evidence that the Syrian government forces are committing war crimes with impunity. The situation in Syria must be referred to the International Criminal Court as a matter of urgency.”

So why is Assad’s regime attacking its own people with impunity? Ken Roth explained to Syria Deeply, “It is a terror and an anti-civilian tool. Part of Assad’s strategy is to make life as miserable as possible for the civilians living in opposition-held areas. It’s designed to kill many and terrify the rest so they will flee and gradually depopulate the area, to make it harder for the rebels to hang on.”

A Syrian military spokesman denied responsibility for the attacks.