BEIRUT
— An international human rights group says evidence "strongly
suggests" that Syrian government forces used toxic chemicals in several
barrel bomb attacks in northwestern Syria last month.
Human
Rights Watch quotes rescue workers as saying the attacks in Idlib
province from March 16 to March 31 affected at least 206 people,
including 20 civil defense workers. It said one attack killed six
civilians, including three children.
The
group's report, released Tuesday, said people near the sites of three
attacks exhibited symptoms consistent with exposure to toxic chemicals,
and gas canisters were among the barrel bomb remnants. It said witnesses
also described a strong chlorine smell.
Chlorine
was first introduced as a chemical weapon in World War I. Most nations
banned its use in war in the Geneva Protocol of 1925.
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