Dozens killed in apparent chemical weapons attack on civilians in eastern Ghouta




BEIRUT — Syrian doctors and rescue workers said Sunday that scores of people had died in an apparent chemical attack on a besieged enclave near Damascus, as government forces escalated their offensive to recapture one of the last rebel strongholds near the capital.

At least 40 people were killed in the attack in Douma in eastern Ghouta, about 12 miles from Damascus, according to the Syrian-American Medical Society (SAMS), a Washington-based nonprofit that supports health facilities in the area.

The State Department said it was monitoring mass casualty reports, describing them as “horrifying” and urging “an immediate response from the international community.”

The Syrian government and its allies “must be held accountable and any further attacks prevented immediately,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. She said Russia, the Syrian government’s main backer, was ultimately responsible for the attacks.

It was unclear Sunday where exactly the attack took place, nor was it certain what type of chemicals were used. Local medical workers have alleged the use of chlorine gas on multiple occasions but said that symptoms witnessed Sunday could suggest that a more lethal substance had been used.

Syrian state media, however, denied government involvement, instead accusing Ghouta's rebels of “fabrications” as Syrian troops closed in.

The State Department said that a hospital had been targeted, and local civil defense forces reported finding entire families suffocated in their homes and in neighboring shelters. It was not possible to independently confirm those claims.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/dozens-killed-in-apparent-chemical-weapons-attack-on-civilians-in-eastern-ghouta--rescue-workers/2018/04/08/231bba18-3ac0-11e8-af3c-2123715f78df_story.html?utm_term=.4339ac8a5c66