The Syrian Regime Must be Stopped from Perpetrating any more Massacres with any kinds of Weapons
No more than 72 hours have passed since the chemical attack that the Syrian regime warplanes carried out in Khan Sheikhoun city in Idlib governorate, and the Syrian regime is challenging the international community again, using chemical weapons in an attack on al Qaboun neighborhood in the capital Damascus.
SNHR recorded that on Friday, April 7, 2017, approximately at 16:00, Syrian regime forces used two hand grenades loaded with a poison gas on the eastern battlefront of al Qaboun neighborhood, which caused two armed opposition fighters to exhibit symptoms such as suffocation, breathing difficulties, and severe coughing.
We talked to one of the armed opposition fighters, called “Khalil”, who was injured in the bombing and said that the scent of the used gas is similar to that of chlorine’s, as he suffered from bronchial damage, severe coughing, and breathing difficulties. He was treated using an oxygen mask and bronchodilators. Khalil’s account consisted with the pictures and videos we received, and have copies of.
This attack comes after the U.S.’s military strike on al Shayrat military airbase, which reportedly was the airbase from which the Syrian warplanes took off to carry out the chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun city. This is a clear message that the Syrian regime will continue using chemical weapons even on a smaller scale that will not draw attention. Furthermore, the Syrian regime, along with his Russian ally, is still carrying out more bombardment operations using barrel bombs and missiles, as the killings haven’t stopped since the Khan Sheikhoun attack. We are working on a report outlining the most notable violations and the civilian death toll that will be published soon. Apparently, the American airstrike wasn’t compelling enough for the Syrian regime to change its behavior. We even have information about warplanes taking off from Shayrat airbase after it was bombed following the Russian leadership’s commands for the Syrian regime to evacuate the airbase before the American strike.