Syrian forces used gas attacks as key part of campaign to retake Aleppo
Source: Washington Post
Chlorine gas attacks paved the way for Syrian forces as they advanced into rebel-held portions of east Aleppo during the final months of the battle for the city, a new study from Human Rights Watch said Monday.
While forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have used chlorine gas on opposition fighters sporadically since 2014, the frequency of chemical attacks between Nov. 17 and Dec. 13 point to a military strategy to use the banned weapon to force both fighters and civilians from Aleppo, according to the report.
“The pattern of the chlorine attacks shows that they were coordinated with the overall military strategy for retaking Aleppo, not the work of a few rogue elements,” Ole Solvang, deputy emergencies director at Human Rights Watch, said in the report.
Human Rights Watch documented at least eight separate chlorine gas attacks before a cease-fire was signed Dec 13. The attacks resulted in the deaths of nine civilians, including four children, and wounded roughly 200. If confirmed, the attacks would be a significant breach of the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention that Syria signed in 2013. Although chlorine is not considered a chemical weapon by the convention because of its industrial uses, the document explicitly states that weaponizing the chemical properties of a substance is prohibited.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/02/13/syrian-forces-used-gas-attacks-as-key-part-of-campaign-to-retake-aleppo-human-rights-watch-says/?tid=sm_tw&utm_term=.93876765e4f9
Paging Tulsi Gabbard...
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interesting to see how little attention this is getting from the usual suspects 