A disturbing new investigation from the United Nations (UN) and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), and first reported by Reuters, has determined that Syrian government forces used deadly chlorine gas during attacks on its civilians.
The report alleges that several military units, including two Syrian Air Force helicopter squadrons, from President Bashar al-Assad’s government used the toxic gas on communities between April 2014 – August 2015. However, as recently as last week, monitoring groups reported cases of people suffocating in the battleground city of Aleppo.
The Syrian government has denied the reports, but another recent investigation found that government forces used toxic gas—including sulfur mustard gas—in other separate attacks.
Back in 2013, the Syrian government had agreed to destroy large stockpiles of chemical weapons, yet according to Reuters, the government was found to be in possession of nerve agents since then.
The use of these kinds of chemical weapons is against international law, and can cause terrible, painful death among those exposed. From Reuters, “chlorine gas turns to hydrochloric acid in the lungs and can kill by burning the lungs and drowning victims in the resulting body fluids.”
