{"id":3169,"date":"2013-08-21T15:16:38","date_gmt":"2013-08-21T13:16:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.luxorbis.org\/friedensplattform.at\/?p=3169"},"modified":"2013-08-21T15:16:38","modified_gmt":"2013-08-21T13:16:38","slug":"syrian-poison-gas-attack-by-government-forces-claimed-by-opposition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.friedensplattform.at\/?p=3169","title":{"rendered":"Syrian &#039;Poison Gas&#039; Attack By Government Forces Claimed By Opposition"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"entry_12345\" class=\"entry large clearfix\">\n<div class=\"col entry_right full\">\n<h1 class=\"title-news\"><\/h1>\n<div class=\"entry_content\">\n<div class=\"news_main_info\">\n<div class=\"like_box_news margin_bottom_10 clearfix\">\n<div class=\"collection_wrapper_h clearfix\"><strong class=\"title\"> <\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry_body_text\">\n<div class=\"float_left\">\n<div class=\"ad_share_box hidden padding_bottom_5 margin_right_20 display_block\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"articleBody\">\n<h3>BEIRUT &#8212; Syrian regime forces fired intense artillery and  rocket barrages Wednesday on the eastern suburbs of Damascus amid a  fierce government offensive in what two pro-opposition groups claimed  was a &#8222;poisonous gas&#8220; attack that killed at least 100 people, including  many children.<!--more--><\/h3>\n<p>A 20-member U.N. chemical weapons team is currently in Syria to  investigate three sites where chemical weapons attacks allegedly  occurred over the past year. Their presence raises questions about why  the regime \u2013 which called the claims of the attack Wednesday &#8222;absolutely  baseless&#8220; \u2013 would employ chemical agents at this time.<\/p>\n<p>France&#8217;s president demanded the United Nations be granted  access to the site of Wednesday&#8217;s alleged attack, while Britain&#8217;s  foreign secretary said if the claims are verified it would mark &#8222;a  shocking escalation of the use of chemical weapons in Syria.&#8220;<\/p>\n<p>The heavy shelling early Wednesday pounded the capital&#8217;s eastern  suburbs of Zamalka, Arbeen and Ein Tarma, according to the Britain-based  Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group. The intensive  bombardment as well as the sound of fighter jets could be heard by  residents of the Syrian capital throughout the night and early  Wednesday, and gray smoke hung over towns in the eastern suburbs.<\/p>\n<p>Observatory director Rami Abdul-Rahman said the activists in the area  said &#8222;poisonous gas&#8220; was fired in rockets as well as from the air in  the attack. He added that he has documented at least 100 deaths, but  said it was no clear whether the victims died from shelling or toxic  gas.<\/p>\n<p>Another group, the Local Coordination Committees, said hundreds of  people were killed or injured in the shelling. Such different figures  from activists groups are common in the immediate aftermaths of attacks  in Syria, where the government restricts foreign and domestic reporting.<\/p>\n<p>The Syrian government denied the reports of Wednesday&#8217;s chemical weapons attack.<\/p>\n<p>&#8222;They are an attempt to divert the U.N. commission on chemical  weapons from carrying out its mission,&#8220; the state-run SANA news agency  said, quoting an unnamed government official, as is its standard  practice.<\/p>\n<p>The head of the U.N. team in Syria to investigate previous claims of  alleged chemical attacks said he wants to look into the latest claims.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to Swedish broadcaster SVT, Ake Sellstrom said the high  numbers of killed and wounded being reported &#8222;sound suspicious.&#8220;<\/p>\n<p>&#8222;It looks like something we need to look into,&#8220; Sellstrom, who is Swedish, was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n<p>He said a formal request from a member state would have to go through  the U.N. channels and Syria would need to agree \u2013 and there is no  guarantee that it would.<\/p>\n<p>France said they will ask the United Nations to visit the site of Wednesday&#8217;s alleged attack.<\/p>\n<p>President Francois Hollande, speaking at a regular Cabinet meeting,  said the latest allegations &#8222;require verification and confirmation,&#8220;  according to government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem.<\/p>\n<p>Hollande would ask the U.N. to go to the site &#8222;to shed full light&#8220; on the allegations.<\/p>\n<p>The Syrian government has long denied claims by the opposition on  chemical weapons use, saying rebels fighting to overthrow President  Bashar Assad&#8217;s government have used such weapons.<\/p>\n<p>Following Wednesday&#8217;s reports, the Observatory called upon the U.N.  team in Syria and all international organizations &#8222;to visit the stricken  areas and to guarantee that medical and relief supplies reach the  people as soon as possible.&#8220; It also called for an investigation into  the attack.<\/p>\n<p>Mohammed Saeed, an activist in the area, told The Associated Press  via Skype that hundreds of dead and injured people were rushed to six  makeshift hospitals in the eastern suburbs of Damascus.<\/p>\n<p>&#8222;This is a massacre by chemical weapons,&#8220; said Saeed. &#8222;The visit by  the U.N. team is a joke &#8230; Bashar is using the weapons and telling the  world that he does not care.&#8220;<\/p>\n<p>An activist group in the town of Arbeen east of Damascus posted on  its Facebook page pictures purporting to show rows of Syrian children,  wrapped in white death shrouds, and others, with chests bared. There  appeared to be very little signs of blood or physical wounds on the  bodies.<\/p>\n<p>An amateur video showed four children on the floor of a makeshift  hospital, appearing to be unconscious as a doctor is seen giving them  some sort of shots. A bit later, a child starts shaking slowly.<\/p>\n<p>&#8222;Is this baby girl a terrorist,&#8220; a man could be heard saying. &#8222;God  willing, we will bring his regime down. He (Assad) is killing Sunni  children in front of the whole world.&#8220;<\/p>\n<p>&#8222;Oh, Bashar, you son of a dog,&#8220; says another man. &#8222;We will come and get you in your place.&#8220;<\/p>\n<p>Another video shows bodies of children lined on the floor of a room, showing no signs of life.<\/p>\n<p>The photos and videos distributed by activists to support their  claims were consistent with AP reporting of shelling in the area, though  it was not known if the victims died from a poisonous gas attack.<\/p>\n<p>Sellstrom&#8217;s team of U.N. experts is meant to probe three sites: the  village of Khan al-Assal just west of the embattled northern city of  Aleppo and two other locations, which are being kept secret for security  reasons.<\/p>\n<p>Wednesday&#8217;s claim of the chemical attack, if confirmed, would be the  most serious since the March 19 incident in Khan al-Assal when at least  30 people were killed. Assad&#8217;s regime and the rebels have blamed each  other for that attack.<\/p>\n<p>Unrest in Syria began in March 2011 and later exploded into a civil  war. More than 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict.<\/p>\n<p class=\"video_box_title\">Earlier on HuffPost:<\/p>\n<div class=\"promo_holder clearfix\">\n<div id=\"hp-slideshow-wrapper-310071\">Quelle:<a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2013\/08\/21\/syria-poison-gas-attack_n_3789642.html?utm_hp_ref=syria\" target=\"_blank\">Huffington Post<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BEIRUT &#8212; Syrian regime forces fired intense artillery and rocket barrages Wednesday on the eastern suburbs of Damascus amid a fierce government offensive in what two pro-opposition groups claimed was a &#8222;poisonous gas&#8220; attack that killed at least 100 people, including many children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arabischer-raum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.friedensplattform.at\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.friedensplattform.at\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.friedensplattform.at\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.friedensplattform.at\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.friedensplattform.at\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.friedensplattform.at\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3169\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.friedensplattform.at\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.friedensplattform.at\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.friedensplattform.at\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}