HRW: Khan Sheikhoun Nerve Gas Attack Was One of Many
The Syrian regime’s alleged chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun, which prompted global condemnation and a U.S. missile strike, was just one in a series of such incidents, research by Human Rights Watch claims.
In its report “Death By Chemicals,” the human rights monitor says extensive research undertaken in Syria has confirmed a pattern of attacks by Syrian government forces using chlorine, nerve gas and other chemical agents with the intention to “inflict severe suffering on the civilian population.”
These include two attacks that, according to HRW, saw the use of nerve gas in eastern Hama in December 2016, which resulted in the deaths of 64 people, but received little attention at the time.
“The government’s recent use of nerve agents is a deadly escalation – and part of a clear pattern,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “In the last six months, the government has used warplanes, helicopters and ground forces to deliver chlorine and sarin in Damascus, Hama, Idlib and Aleppo. That’s widespread and systematic use of chemical weapons.”
The Syrian government and its main ally, Russia, have consistently denied that it uses such tactics.
ISIS Attack on Refugee Camp Kills 30
At least 30 civilians and Kurdish fighters were killed in an assault by the so-called Islamic State on a refugee camp and Syrian Defense Forces checkpoint near the Iraq-Syria border, according to the U.K.-based monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
A further 30 were injured in clashes between ISIS and the U.S.-backed SDF during the attack on Rajm al-Salibi. A BBC report claims that ISIS suicide bombers may have been involved.
It is the latest in a series of skirmishes between the SDF and ISIS, which have seen the U.S.-backed coalition recently capture most of the town of Tabqa, a strategically important location in northern Syria, in its bid to oust ISIS from nearby Raqqa, its de facto capital.
U.N. Concerns Over Eastern Ghouta Siege Victims as Clashes Continue
The U.N. has raised concerns over “the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation” in Eastern Ghouta.
Around 400,000 residents remain trapped there in siege conditions, according to the U.N.’s in-house news agency.
“The U.N. has not reached any part of Eastern Ghouta since October last year,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary-general, who added that the U.N. is equipped to immediately deliver life-saving assistance should a pause in hostilities be maintained by all sides in the conflict.
However, SOHR has reported that clashes between Jaish al-Islam and both Rahman Corps and Hayyat Tahrir al-Sham in a number of areas in Eastern Ghouta have continued into their fifth day. This throws into doubt any chances of a halt in fighting to allow humanitarian intervention.
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