US Investigates Reports of Alleged Chemical Weapon Use by Assad Regime

US Secretary of State John Kerry said that if Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime used chlorine gas, the international community must condemn it.

 

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Washington is checking reports that Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime allegedly used chlorine gas in the March 16 attack on the town of Sarmin, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday.

“We are looking very closely into this matter and considering next steps,” Kerry stated. “While we cannot yet confirm details, if true, this would be only the latest tragic example of the Assad regime's atrocities against the Syrian people, which the entire international community must condemn.”

According to media reports citing Syrian activists, the Syrian government carried out a chlorine gas attack on Sarmin.

The Syrian government has denied accusations of using chlorine.

Syrian doctors in the region that in contact with the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders reported that a chlorine attack in northwestern Syria on March 16 killed six people and poisoned a further 70.

“The Assad regime’s horrifying pattern of using chlorine as a chemical weapon against the Syrian people underscores the importance of investigating this allegation as quickly as possible,” Kerry urged.

Syria has agreed to get rid of its chemical weapons arsenal via Russia's mediation following the attack near Damascus that killed over 1,000 people in August 2013. The Syrian government and rebel forces traded blame for the attack.

At the end of October 2014, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) reported that nearly 98 percent of chemical weapons removed from Syria had been destroyed.