© Ammar Abdullah / Reuters
France’s foreign minister called on Tuesday for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss an alleged chemical attack in Khan Shaykhun in the Syrian militant-held province of Idlib, Reuters reported, citing France’s foreign minister.
“A new and particularly serious chemical attack took place this morning in Idlib province. The first information suggests a large number of victims, including children. I condemn this disgusting act,” Reuters quoted Jean-Marc Ayrault’s statement.
According to various pro-militant sources, the attack resulted in killing of up to 58 people and injuring over 200 others (a detailed article on the topic is here).
Following the chemical attack, an alleged airstrike targeted an alleged hospital treating victims of the chemical attack.
Breaking footage shows the moment of airstrike on the Syrian hospital treating victims of the chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib. pic.twitter.com/QoGDIpOvV3
— Sakir Khader (@sakirkhader) April 4, 2017
So, now there are 3 main versinos of the Tuesday events:
1. Pro-militant sources argue that the Assad government believed that the miltiary victory over Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its allies during a large-scale northern Hama battle was not enough. This is why it decided to use chemical weapons to pound civilians in Idlib. The “bloody” Syrian-Russian-Iranian alliance has no problems. So, it just uses chemical weapons here and there.
If it was indeed Sarin agent used, it would be bad news for these responders. Direct contact with hands is strictly no go in case of Sarin. pic.twitter.com/WoS5Nisx9o
— Aldin ?? (@CT_operative) April 4, 2017
2. Militants and their helpers from the so-called White Helmets used chemical weapons themselves during the Syrian Air Force’s raids in the Idlib countryside. It’s important to note that according to “pro-opposition” outlets, chemical weapons were dropped from a warplane. Indeed, this is very questionable.
3. Some pro-government sources argue that the Syrian Air Force bombed a chemical weapons plant (or depot) in the village of Khan Shaykhun. Update [5.04.2017]: The Russian Defense Ministry supported this version in its statement. (LINK)
In any case, the incident will be widely used by the mainstream media and the “friends of Syria” in order to continue support of militant groups (a majrity of them is directly linked or cooperating with al-Qaeda) operating in the province of Idlib. This will also complicate searching of any kind of peaceful solution on the diplomatic level. It’s hard to believe that Damascus, Tehran and Moscow are interested in these developments.
In any case, the incident has to be independently investigated and the real reason of civilian casualties have to be found.
I can’t believe Assad did this Is he that stupid? His side is clearly wining.If he did do it he deserves to be killed asap
He didnt , but the general command can have done it . They are very incompetent . I dont know who is responsible but this can affect SAA operations
I doubt it was from side of SAA, this is clearly a False Flag Fake News to intervene in IDLIB by Turkey
Yes this is absolutely possible . In 2015 there was video where Turkey politicians said they can use fake pretext to invade part Syria . They already did with small part of North Aleppo . But the big prize is Idlib
SAA command is incompetent, no doubt about it. But not that incompetent to drop gas bombs on town way behind the front filled with civilians and “activists” with their mobiles on. They had plenty of opportunity to use gas in Palmira and Der Ezzor – isolated towns in the desert with no “activists” to report it and no civilians. In addition, they know that the minute somebody really proves SAA used gas, Putin would drop Syria like a hot potato. And Iran would be pissed off too – Iranian people despise chemical weapons since 1000s of their soldiers were gassed by Saddam. And last, but not least – almost every drop on sarin produced is also documented. You don’t really find the stuff lying around…
Totally agree again with you, your observations are very logical, and without wishful thinking as many others, gas attacks happens in areas full of medias like in Ghouta before, you are right, Assad would never done it, and if he did, Putin would withdrawn his support to him, the problem is western medias, they are so capable to show their version of what happened, they are a very strong propaganda machine, those western powers, play dirty if they see the cant win in another way.
putin would never do such a thing. if he does, the west and israel get that much closer to iran and russia, and he isnt gonna let that happen. he may try to spin it to the media that he is concerned and stuff, but he would never do such a thing
Yes possibly, but one thing is sure, Balkanication of Syria is close, i dont think this can be avoided, they have done it to Yugoslavia before, this looks to be they plan in Syria also.
i hope not, but if anyone can stop it, its russia and possibly china too
Lets hope my friend.
True. The US is now saying that Assad can stay but it’s not clear that it wishes Syria to remain intact. I suppose we’re waiting for guidance from Tell Aviv.
putin would never drop syria, if he does, the west gets that much closer to iran and russia. he may try to spin it to media that he is concerned and stuff, but he would never do such a thing
I guess it might be a provocation from some traitor of SAA general command (if of course SAA really did it).
How do you know they’re very incompetent? Who is the “general command”?
Fake flag attack obviously, terrorist scum (and their saudi/turkish/nato masters) poisoning civilians to blame Assad. Deja vu.
Don’t be stupid… FFS, its either a false flag or an inadvertent release caused by SAA attack on a terrorist weapons store. NATOstani regimes are able to commit their outrageous subversions because of unthinking idiots like you…
JW said he can’t believe it.
There has never ever been any logic in the argument of Syria using chemical or biological WMD’s.
The US and her poodles in the UN and NATO would love these baseless accusations to be seen to be true and to attack the SAA in order to to project their terrorists gangsters into power and then loot Syria as they have done with every other country they have ravaged.
Syria has no benefit in using such weapons.
NONE.
The ‘opposition’ must be getting it’s ass kicked again. Time for the US/UK propaganda trolls to roll out the old chemical weapons fabrication.
Chlorine is probably the dumbest thing to use in your fake chemical weapons attack claims, and chlorine dropped *from aircraft* is another whole dimension of stupid on top of the initial clam. In fact, it is the head-choppers that usually try using chlorine as a chemical weapon until they figure out that it’s relatively useless. The only place chlorine is used as a CW is in western MSM, because that audience is the only one stupid enough to believe the claims of its use.
If you had a truckload of it, you could probably end up choking a few people to death. But it’s difficult to use so much as to actually incapacitate or kill a person. It worked in WWI because they released it on cold, damp, foggy days with almost no wind against guys in trenches. And they had to release massive amounts of it to have any effect. That was ‘ideal’ conditions, but it was still so ineffective for the effort that they quit using it. It’s not
So now you have a dry, cool, windy climate. And you have a very limited amount if it’s from an air dropped munitions. The population does not have basements, nor are they hiding in trenches. Even under a moderate wind, it would disperse in less than a minute.
If the SyAAF is trying to kill head-choppers, it would be far more effective to just drop a high-explosive bomb on them, not useless chlorine (or ammonia or whatever else the London PsyOps monkeys dream up). It’s far more likely that the bomb hit a building that had a bunch of chemicals inside. No, not a ‘chemical weapons factory’ – that’s almost as stupid as the ‘chlorine bomb’ claims. Damn near any small shop or factory has all kinds of cleaners and solvents that are probably going to cause some noxious fumes if they’re all ripped open at once. I’m sure people could smell things after their neighborhood was bombed, but the ‘chlorine bomb’ claim is ridiculous. The ex-mil CW guys are shaking their head every time moderate head-choppers make this claim.
This is the comment this news piece deserved. I’d love to hear more technical information about the viability of sarin/chlorine usage in this specific case.
Sarin is even more ridiculous, except I see Turkey already has some kind of Soros-funded chemical weapons investigators racing to the scene. When that happens, it usually means they planted something to find.
More nonsense:
– Reports of ‘distinctive smell’ of supposed Sarin victims in hospital. Except Sarin is odorless.
– This was all supposedly caused by a single 120mm rocket. I don’t even want to talk about the stupidity of that claim. I guess the ‘air bombardment’ claim wasn’t going too well.
– Plenty of valid points brought up by A Closer Look At Syria casting doubt on head-chopper claims. Including recent kidnapping of 200 or so hostages by al Qaeda a few towns over. What a coincidence.
http://acloserlookonsyria.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Talk:Alleged_Chemical_Attack_Khan_Sheikhoun_3_April_2017
– Finally, why all the victims right outside an underground bunker (ideal for gassing hostages): https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bb19070db8c802a7705ea34f0c59df1e84022b9fad6832204b6bd1c6e40d7cd9.png
Even more questions:
Jumping to conclusions; something is not adding up in Idlib chemical weapons attack
The head-choppers and their London-based PR firms sure are getting sloppy. Ghouta was sort of convincing (at first) but this is just garbage. It’s going to end up bakc-firing on them.
no-one ever accused the goat-fuckers of having an excess of IQ within their ranks…
They’re just the propaganda delivery boys. If you want low IQ, go to the source and target: London-based PR firms hired by Saudi and western intelligence agencies to make this nonsense up for western audiences.
looks staged
One case of death by chlorine I can remember happened when a train carrying chlorine derailed and one of two senior citizens died after hours of exposure. Just a case that seems to be supportive of what you mentioned about chlorine lacking effectiveness, especially in open air.
The French instantly proclaimed their outrage without waiting for any hard forensic data. I want to see bomb casings.
The UN Emergency meeting has to include immediate, unhindered access to the area, including Russian experts, otherwise it should be considered the joke that it is. If the rebels deny immediate access then that would be telling.
Ahh these arseholes always do this when they loose a battle
France is a real puppet of USA/NATO and CIA.France always enjoy Syrian Blood.
A secret agreement in 2012 was reached between the Black Hitler’s Administration and the leaders of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, to set up a sarin gas attack and blame it on Assad so that the U.S. could invade and overthrow Assad.
Funding came from Turkey, as well as Saudi Arabia and Qatar. At the same time the CIA, with the support of MI6, was responsible for getting arms from Gaddafi’s arsenals into Syria. The U.S. Consulate in Benghazi was operating a “rat line” for Gaddafi’s captured weapons into Syria through Turkey.
Seymour Hersh stated “Evidence leads directly to the Black Hitler, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, CIA Director John Brennan, Saudi Intelligence Chief Prince Bandar, and Saudi Arabia´s Interior Ministry.” Now for the first time, Hersh has also indicated that Hillary Clinton may well have been directly involved in this “rat line.” or at least had extensive knowledge of it.
The enemy knows that Russia and Syria relocate all surrendered rebels to Idlib.Russia,Hizbolla,Iran and Syria will never allow its troops to do such coward act.It is USA/NATO,Turkey,ISIS and FSA which are against the government.All this years there was no such lies and chemical attack.
Time for Russia to activate those containers and deprive any other jets from flying in Syria soveriegn territory.
France has always lectured other countries on how to respect the law and how to be a democracy, but France itself is in a state of emergency, and president Hollande’s popularity in France is in the single digits.
France means hypocracy
France is in a very ‘HOT’ election
So we have a concocted chemical attack used to demonize the Syrian regime but the US Air Force of death continues to blow up hundreds of civilians. The ‘concerned’ French are no where to be seen in relation to these atrocities.
The French seem to be running the PR front-end as of late in addition to their other recent SF stuff in Syria. The BBC just switched from AP feeds to AFP (French). AFP was all over this with plenty of nicely-composed, high-resolution dramatic photos of ‘victims’ and White Helmets. I guess the head-chopper shakey-cam vids were just too much for western audiences – AFP vid/pix goes over much better. Side note: RT’s story from Lizzie Phelen on the Tabqa Dam was initially released NOT with her footage, but with vid of the dam from AFP. AP was way too Israeli/Saudi friendly to be called balanced journalism, an now you can throw AFP into the camp of ‘Useless Intelligence-controlled News-feed Stooges’.
Just struck me that when l’Expresse and similar glossy magazines have those flattering photo spread interviews with the Qaddafi’s or the Assad’s they are actually scoping out where the smart bombs should drop.
not one comment denouncing the mass murder…I was naive and made a donation a month ago….and you expect me to make another…there are not values here, only pro Assad supported (paid probably)
mass murder….. are you fking stupid? This is CLEARLY a false flag or an inadvertent release form a jihadist CW stockpile. Stop being a moron…. FFS… people like you are why this evil war has dragged on as long as it has.
Another commenter on a different article raised the obvious cui bono point.
Obama came close to invading when he treated an earlier sarin attack as the responsibility of the government, which it was not. Assad now has heard that Trump is not going to focus on removing him and so would be beyond stupid to use chemicals, especially for no tactical gain whatsoever. Assad’s forces are gradually destroying enemy fighters. Attacking troops is what the SAA want to do, not attack civilians.
Anyone who wants to lay this alleged chemical attack on Assad has first to explain Assad’s risks and benefits in using chemicals. Personally, I see that it’s all risk and zero benefit.
Your contribution was well spent, Mr. Crowland.
yet its just “whatever” that USAF has killed over like 2,000 civilians in bombings recently? what a bunch of hypocritical FUCKS!!!
the moment we see white helmets rescuing any body, it is a propaganda. Countless times white helmets got caught faking “rescues”
But this is genuine:
https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=fd8_1430900709
There is a report that Syrian air force targeted a Jihadi missile factory in Khan Sheikoun. There may have been some toxic substances there that could cause some civilian casualties. This is all that the white helmets would need to create a fabrication of an chemical attack. With inflated and fake number of casualties.
that report needs to be shown to trump and nikki haley and tillerson because they are being played!!
I am pissed off that Nikki Haley shows up at the UN with pictures of dead children within 24 hrs of this “attack” even before the facts are checked out.
Yea this whole administration is completely moronic and in the pockets of the neo con zionists
Just the shear size and scope of the so called chemical “attack” area supports the SAA claim that they had bombed a chemical stockpile(most likely on accident).
The size of this would require several bombings via aircraft or 20 or more artillary shells that can’t reach idlib anyways… >.>
Stop lying . Syrian aviation struck a blow at the eastern edge of Khan Sheikhoun in the province of Idlib in the ammunition depot of terrorists with chemical weapons that was delivered to Iraq
For basic information on the weaponization of Sarin and what to expect for secondary contamination I found this link informative. Anyone touching (White Helmets and doctors) and/or being in a confined space (ambulance drivers and doctors) would be in serious risk of also being overcome with the toxic liquid.
http://brown-moses.blogspot.com/2013/07/chemical-weapon-specialists-talk-sarin.html
In the interview with a British weapons expert, it’s interesting to note how many times in the past Sarin in the Idlib governorate has occurred. The timing for this attack is a bit too suspicious.
Seems that fire hose goes to a fire engine thats dug in or bunkered up, are they suggesting this “attack” happened out the front of their bunkered up fire engine/fire station? https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/03a8b0da6fc5523671accb889c4f332940bb6b55972435ad1841fd952de98e50.png
another “White Helmets” type video. Anyone studying the photo can see that it is an acting class.
Not again, the usual 3, US, UK and France, the same entities that started all the trouble in Syria, N. Africa and the Middle East. About time they give it a miss, accusations that don’t blend in with facts. A redundant UN and a corrupt International Law violators accusing the victim. Come on Russia, time you put your foot down and exterminate the trash.
Syrian Girl noting children appear to have been bludgoned to death with physical headwounds showing – wasnt a few hundred civilians from a nearby town kidnapped by terr’s? https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fdaba961c40a698f92cb0d19bbcdf19ac78662718d111e3ae67b749f97cc631a.png
Terrorist group kidnaped civilian near Hama and took them to idlib when the Syrian government and Russia attacked the warehouse of the chemical then they say let’s blame them, they kill all the civilians that they kidnaped and lay them all over the place after that they did little acting and there you have it Syria used chemical again Mainstream media loves that shit Also US is distracting the bombing in masoul
Many of the adult male bodies are just in their underwear. I wonder why. It’s an oddity. Outer clothing contaminated?
It is interesting that this came merely tens of hours after the U.S.A. declared the following:
“You pick and choose your battles and when we’re looking at this, it’s about changing up priorities and our priority is no longer to sit there and focus on getting Assad out.” [1]
“This is very much about a political solution now … and that basically means that Syria can no longer be a safe haven for terrorists, we’ve got to make sure we get Iran and their proxies out, we’ve got to make sure that, as we move forward, we’re securing the borders for our allies as well.” [2] {Well, in my opinion, this is like saying that in order to denazify a country, the Jews have to be “solved” (gassed) first.}
Syrian opposition member Farah al-Attasi said the State Department and the White House were sending contradictory messages on Syria and should start leading and not focus exclusively on fighting Islamic State. [1]
Thus, the “opposition members” apparently loathed the change and felt that they had to do something about it.
Sources:
[1] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/us-assad-syria-ambassador-un-nikki-haley-a7659266.html
[2] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-usa-idUSKBN16F2WV
In my opinion, neither #1, nor #3 (as the source of the poisonous gas, but possible the source of some distinctive smell) applies.
On the other hand, the only “very questionable” thing is the fact that “chemical weapons were dropped from a warplane”. They most likely could not see that it was a chemical weapon that was being dropped. Hell, even after so many close-up photographs, not even the “wizzards” at Bellingcat have been able to identify the ammunition,… and the Hayat Tarhir as-Sham militants and their White Helmets minions had all the incentives, all the motives… and possibly all the means to stage such an attack.