Russia defends Syria against 'chemical attack' outcry

Alleged chemical attack has garnered international condemnation for Syrian govt

ROME, ITALY/ KHAN SHEIKHUN , SYRIA: Russia defended its ally in Damascus on Wednesday against international outcry over a suspected chemical attack that killed scores of civilians, saying a Syrian air strike hit a "terrorist warehouse".

At least 72 civilians, among them 20 children, were killed in Tuesday's attack in rebel-held Khan Sheikhun, and dozens more were left gasping for air, convulsing, and foaming at the mouth, doctors said.

The UN Security Council was to hold an emergency meeting later Wednesday on the attack, with Britain, France and the United States pushing a resolution demanding a swift investigation.

Washington and London have pointed the finger at President Bashar al-Assad's government for the attack, though the regime has denied using chemical weapons.

Moscow, which launched a military intervention in 2015 in support of Assad's forces, said the deaths were caused when a Syrian air strike hit a "terrorist warehouse" containing "toxic substances".

The Russian defence ministry said in a statement that the building housed "a warehouse making bombs, with toxic substances", without saying if the strike was accidental or deliberate.

Syria's army had earlier denied any use of chemical weapons, saying it "has never used them, anytime, anywhere, and will not do so in the future."

Its denials have done little to quiet international condemnation, with UN chief Antonio Guterres on Wednesday saying the "horrific events" showed that "war crimes are going on in Syria".


Others blamed Damascus more directly for the attack, including British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson who said, "All the evidence I have seen suggests this was the Assad regime."

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also pointed the finger at the regime, saying "it is clear that this is how Bashar al-Assad operates: with brutal, unabashed barbarism."

If confirmed, the attack would be among the worst incidents of chemical weapons use in Syria's brutal civil war, which has killed over 320,000 people since it began in March 2011.

It unfolded in the early hours of Tuesday morning, with aeroplanes carrying out strikes that released "toxic gas" on Khan Sheikhun, in the northwestern province of Idlib, according to witnesses and a monitoring group.

"We ran inside the houses and saw whole families just dead in their beds," resident Abu Mustafa told AFP of the attack's aftermath.
"Children, women, old people dead in the streets."



The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said at least 160 people suffered the effects of the gas, with medical sources reporting incidents of vomiting, fainting, breathing problems and foaming at the mouth.

Medics worked frantically in the hours after the attack to treat a steady stream of patients, administering oxygen and hosing down victims to wash off chemical residue.

Even as they worked, air strikes hit a medical facility treating victims, an AFP correspondent said, bringing rubble down on top of medics and patients.

Papal condemnation

While Pope Francis said on Wednesday he was horrified by the suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria, calling it an "unacceptable massacre" of innocent civilians.

"We look on horrified by the recent events in Syria," he told tens of thousands of people in St Peter's Square for his weekly general audience.

Expressing his "firm deploration of the unacceptable massacre that took place yesterday," the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics said he was praying for "the defenceless victims, including many children."

Francis appealed to "the consciences of those who hold political power, both at the local and international levels so that these tragedies end."