Tag: chemical warfare

Syria

UN ‘alarmed’ by chemwar claim; Russia denies it

UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a statement saying he is “deeply concerned” about ongoing air-strikes on Douma in Syria’s besieged Eastern Ghouta enclave, noting the “killing of civilians” and “destruction of civilian infrastructure,” including hospitals and health facilities. The statement said he is “particularly alarmed by allegations that chemical weapons have been used against civilian populations in Douma.”  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov responded that no evidence has been found of a chemical weapons attack in Douma. But the Syrian-American Medical Society, which has aid workers on the ground, said more than 500 people were brought to medical centers in Douma with symptoms “indicative of exposure to a chemical agent,” including breathing difficulties, bluish skin, mouth foaming, corneal burns and “emission of chlorine-like odor.” (Image: Syria Solidarity Campaign)

Syria

Syria: new chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta

Estimates of the dead vary from 70 to 150 after the latest and worst chemical attack on the besieged enclave of Eastern Ghouta, in the Damascus suburbs. The number is likely to rise, as rescue workers are still reporting new casualties at the town of Douma, the last in the enclave that remains in rebel hands. The apparent strike by a “barrel bomb” filled with either sarin or chlorine gas targeted a building where displaced families were sheltering from the ongoing Assad regime and Russian air-raids. The victims are overwhelmingly civilians, and many are said to be children. Trump has pledged a US military response to the attack. (Image: Syria Solidarity Campaign)

Syria

As circles close on Ghouta and Afrin, where’s the solidarity?

The Turkish assault on Afrin has forced the enclave’s Kurdish defenders into an alliance with the same Assad regime that is committing war crimes in Eastern Ghouta. This tragically poses an obstacle to any solidarity between the respective defenders of the besieged enclaves. But we in the West are faced with no such grim choices, and should be capable of a consistent position. Yet Noam Chomsky, who signed a statement in support of Afrin, has shamefully abetted Putin’s propaganda portraying the repeated chemical attacks on Ghouta as “fake news.” (Photo of Aleppo ruins from UNHCR)

Syria

Syria: impunity in ongoing Ghouta war crimes

Medical facilities supported by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in besieged Eastern Ghouta report receiving 1,000 dead and upwards of 4,800 wounded over the past two weeks. Up to 20 of MSF’s facilities in the enclave have been hit by bombing or shelling. The regime is accused of using chemical and phosphorus weapons in its offensive. France has threatened “intervention measures” if claims of gas attacks are proved true. But Russia has repeatedly used its Security Council veto to block any investigation into Syrian chemical attacks.

Syria

UN rights chief sees war crimes in Eastern Ghouta

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein warned the Damascus government that air-strikes, shelling and use of toxic agents in Eastern Ghouta likely constitute war crimes. Zeid asserts that the citizens of Eastern Ghouta are enduring every kind of deprivation, with no aid getting through since November, except for one single convoy of humanitarian aid that managed to reach just 7,200 people, of the hundreds of thousands in the area.

Syria

Syria: new chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta

A child died and at least 13 other people suffered breathing difficulties after an apparent chemical attack on the besieged Syrian rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin the following day ordered a five-hour “humanitarian pause” in the bombardment of Eastern Ghouta to allow civilians to evacuate. This falls far short of the 30-day ceasefire being demanded by the United Nations.

Syria

Tragedy: Rojava Kurds close ranks with Assad

In a political tragedy that bodes more poorly than ever for any eventual return of peace to Syria, Assad regime forces joined the Kurdish militia defending the northern enclave of Afrin from Turkish aggression. This obviously heightens the threat of Arab-Kurdish ethnic war, as the regime continues its savage bombardment of rebel-held Idlib and Ghouta. And with the entry of regime forces into Afrin, there is now risk of NATO member Turkey directly engaging Assad’s troops, with obvious threat of international escalation. Of course, with Orwellian irony, Ankara is calling the offensive Operation “Olive Branch.”  (Photo: BasNews)

Syria

Russian Cossacks fight in Syria?

Mystery continues to surround the US air-strikes on Syria’s Deir ez-Zor governorate, which Damascus called a “brutal massacre” of pro-regime troops. While the Kremlin denies that its troops were involved in the incident, survivors are said to be receiving medical treatment at Defense Ministry hospitals in Moscow and St. Petersburg. And the Kaliningrad-based Baltic Cossack paramilitary group issued a statement claiming its members were among those who “died for the Fatherland, the Cossacks and the Orthodox faith” in Deir ez-Zor. One of the slain was named by the group as a veteran of the war in Ukraine. (Image: Voices from Russia)

Syria

Afrin and Idlib offensives signal Syrian endgame?

As Turkey and its Syrian rebel allies continue their advance on Kurdish-held Afrin, Russia and its Syrian regime allies continue their advance on rebel-held Iblib. Both offensives are taking a horrific toll in civilian casualties, but the parallels don’t end there. Even as they ostensibly oppose each other, both Turkey and Assad are accused of conniving with ISIS forces to weaken the defenders of the respective enclaves. And the twin aggressions in Afrin and Idlib come amid a sudden and rapid internationalization of the Syrian war. (Photo: Kurdish militia figher at Afrin, via ANF)

Syria

Russia vetoes Syria chemwar investigation —again

The Russian Federation vetoed a measure before the UN Security Council that would have extended the mandate of a panel investigating the use of chemical weapons in Syria for 30 days. The UNSC had established the Joint Investigative Mechanism with a two-year mandate following the use of chemical weapons in Syria in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

The Andes

Colombia: cocaleros resist forced eradication

Colombia's government—under Washington pressure—is pushing ahead with plans to forcibly eradicate 50,000 hectares of coca leaf this year, despite mounting resistance from peasant growers. Violent confrontations between cocaleros and eradication forces are reported across the country. Even "voluntary eradication" is meeting protest, as campesino communities are flooded with National Police troops, in violation of their pacts with the government.

The Andes

Colombia: push to resume glyphosate spraying

A new ruling by Colombia's top court may open the way for a resumption of glyphosate spraying to wipe out coca crops, which was suspended in 2015 due to health concerns.