The Assad regime forces have carried out at least nine chemical weapons attacks since the beginning of 2017, a rights group said. The attacks have taken place in the provinces of Idlib, Hama, Rural Damascus, and Damascus.
In a report released on Wednesday, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said that the attacks killed 77 civilians, including 25 children, 16 women, and one rebel fighter and injured at least 243 people.
The Syrian Coalition called for a UN Security Council resolution under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter to put an end to the crimes being committed by the Assad regime and to remove the constant threat it poses to the lives of the Syrian people and to the international peace and security.
In a press release issued on Wednesday, the Coalition stressed that such a resolution is needed to ensure that those who ordered, executed, supported, and are involved in such crimes are held accountable.
The Coalition added that such a resolution must impose full and immediate ban on the flight of the Assad regime’s air force over all Syrian territory; refer all violations and crimes to the International Criminal Court; ensure that perpetrators and accomplices in these crimes are handed over to international justice; strip the regime of all lethal weaponry; and ban supplying it with weapons.
The Network said that the chemical attack on Khan Sheikoun was carried out by a Su-22 aircraft that fired missiles loaded with toxic substances on the northern suburbs of the rebel-held town.
The Network concluded that these attacks occurred in areas where the Assad regime forces were seeking to advance and were carried out in parallel with intense bombing with rockets and barrel bombs.
The Assad regime has so far carried out at least 167 chemical weapons attacks since the adoption of UN Security Council resolution 2118 in September 2013, the monitoring group said. The attacks have claimed the lives of at least 208 people and injured 2,407 more. (Source: Syrian Coalition Media’s Department)
