UN Report: Syrian Forces Dropped Chlorine Bombs on Aleppo
A United Nations-mandated Commission of Inquiry on Syria concluded that war crimes were committed by all parties in the battle for Aleppo. The document describes numerous reports of chlorine attacks by Syrian forces
Dan Arkin
| 05/03/2017
Photo: AP
The battle late last year for control over Syria’s war-ravaged Aleppo was a stage of unrelenting violence, with civilians on both sides falling victim to war crimes committed by all parties, read a report issued by the United Nations-mandated Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria.
The report documents brutal tactics employed by the parties to the conflict in the country as they engaged in the decisive battle for the once iconic city between July and December 2016, according to the UN.
The report notes that the siege-like tactics employed by pro-Government forces in eastern Aleppo last year trapped civilians without adequate food or medical supplies and that between July and December, Syrian and Russian forces carried out daily air strikes, claiming hundreds of lives and reducing hospitals, schools, and markets to rubble.
It adds that Syrian forces also used chlorine bombs – a chemical agent prohibited under international law – in residential areas, resulting in hundreds of civilian casualties. The Commission also notes that it received reports of the use of cluster munitions in densely populated areas.
According to Defense One, the document, which describes numerous reports of chlorine attacks by Syrian forces in Aleppo, follows consistent reporting on the Syrian government’s use of chlorine by the open-source intelligence group Bellingcat. Human Rights Watch has also documented the Assad regime’s deployment of chlorine in civilian areas of Aleppo.
The document reveals that Syrian regime forces dropped chlorine from helicopters in Aleppo between July and December 2016. During the September 6 gas attack in the neighborhood of Sukkari, reports Defense One, “Eyewitnesses saw helicopters hovering in the sky when the bomb was dropped, while those in the vicinity began suffocating and their eyes became red shortly afterward. Witnesses further reported a strong odor resembling domestic detergents.”
Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Vladimir Safronkov has said that there is “no convincing evidence” that the chemical weapons were used by Syrian forces.
The Atlantic Council’s February 13 “Breaking Aleppo” report also documents the Assad regime’s repeated use of chlorine gas, as well as its use of highly destructive incendiary weapons in civilian locations.
The UN report notes that dropping chlorine on people constitutes a violation of international law in part because chlorine, like other chemical weapons, can’t discriminate between combatants and noncombatants. “The use of chlorine, regardless of the presence of a valid military objective, is prohibited by customary international humanitarian law as well as by the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction, to which the Syrian Arab Republic is a party,” it notes. “The continued use of chlorine by Syrian forces evinces a blatant disregard for international legal obligations, and also amounts to the war crime of indiscriminate attacks against a civilian population.”
A United Nations-mandated Commission of Inquiry on Syria concluded that war crimes were committed by all parties in the battle for Aleppo. The document describes numerous reports of chlorine attacks by Syrian forces
Photo: AP
The battle late last year for control over Syria’s war-ravaged Aleppo was a stage of unrelenting violence, with civilians on both sides falling victim to war crimes committed by all parties, read a report issued by the United Nations-mandated Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria.
The report documents brutal tactics employed by the parties to the conflict in the country as they engaged in the decisive battle for the once iconic city between July and December 2016, according to the UN.
The report notes that the siege-like tactics employed by pro-Government forces in eastern Aleppo last year trapped civilians without adequate food or medical supplies and that between July and December, Syrian and Russian forces carried out daily air strikes, claiming hundreds of lives and reducing hospitals, schools, and markets to rubble.
It adds that Syrian forces also used chlorine bombs – a chemical agent prohibited under international law – in residential areas, resulting in hundreds of civilian casualties. The Commission also notes that it received reports of the use of cluster munitions in densely populated areas.
According to Defense One, the document, which describes numerous reports of chlorine attacks by Syrian forces in Aleppo, follows consistent reporting on the Syrian government’s use of chlorine by the open-source intelligence group Bellingcat. Human Rights Watch has also documented the Assad regime’s deployment of chlorine in civilian areas of Aleppo.
The document reveals that Syrian regime forces dropped chlorine from helicopters in Aleppo between July and December 2016. During the September 6 gas attack in the neighborhood of Sukkari, reports Defense One, “Eyewitnesses saw helicopters hovering in the sky when the bomb was dropped, while those in the vicinity began suffocating and their eyes became red shortly afterward. Witnesses further reported a strong odor resembling domestic detergents.”
Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Vladimir Safronkov has said that there is “no convincing evidence” that the chemical weapons were used by Syrian forces.
The Atlantic Council’s February 13 “Breaking Aleppo” report also documents the Assad regime’s repeated use of chlorine gas, as well as its use of highly destructive incendiary weapons in civilian locations.
The UN report notes that dropping chlorine on people constitutes a violation of international law in part because chlorine, like other chemical weapons, can’t discriminate between combatants and noncombatants. “The use of chlorine, regardless of the presence of a valid military objective, is prohibited by customary international humanitarian law as well as by the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction, to which the Syrian Arab Republic is a party,” it notes. “The continued use of chlorine by Syrian forces evinces a blatant disregard for international legal obligations, and also amounts to the war crime of indiscriminate attacks against a civilian population.”
