Opposition accuse Al-Assad of using chemical weapons in 15 areas

During the last two months forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad have used chemical weapons on more than 15 areas belonging to the resistance, opposition leaders in Istanbul said yesterday.

In a press conference held in Istanbul, the Defence Minister in the opposition interim government Mustafa Asaad presented “evidence suggesting the Syrian regime used chemical weapons in Saraqib and Telmns in the area surrounding Idleb”.

Asaad said that “after passing UN Resolution 2118 which prevents the Syrian regime from using chemical weapons the regime commits these crimes on a greater scale, breaking international laws and using chemical weapons in more than 15 locations across Syria in the last two months.”

His ministry had received “confirmed information about the regime’s intention to use chemical weapons prior to the attacks and we have been warning of this. On April 8, regime forces shelled Jobar neighbourhood with poisonous gases leaving 10 dead and 40 wounded. Then in Kffersita in the area surrounding Hama they left 82 dead and dozens injured and then they continued in several areas in Damascus, Aleppo and Altmanah and Telmns in Idleb countryside,” Asaad explained.

Asaad warned that “the regime seeks to ignite sedition between the rebels by assassinating key figures in the Syrian revolution and accusing members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) of the murders. We informed an opposition leader and he was saved from an assassination attempt.”

Commander of the FSA’s northern front, Colonel Abdel Baseet Al-Taweel said during the press conference that the opposition has been communicating with the international community and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons “but they did not respond to our calls to investigate the incidents”.

An expert responsible for investigating the use of chemical weapons by regime forces presented a report “documenting 62 incidents of using chemical weapons during the past year, resulted in the death of 1,400 people and 9,000 injuries of varying severity”.

He went on to say that a medical organisation conducted tests on the body of a girl named Mariam Al-Khatib who died as a result of sarin gas. The expert said: “The X-ray examination of the girl’s lungs appeared full of water as she was poisoned with liquid gas.”