Syria has not used chemical weapons since April: Pentagon

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ANI Moscow [Russia]
Last Updated : Jul 23 2017 | 12:02 PM IST

Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Joseph Dunford, on Sunday, said the Syrian Government forces have not used chemical weapons since April.

The statement comes after the chemical attack on civilians by Assad in April came forward, when the United Nations carried out a Syrian military airbase near the city of Homs.

"I like to think that [Syrian President Bashar] Assad has received the message loud and clear that the use of chemical weapons in unacceptable and that there will be consequences for the use of chemical weapons against his own people. Time will tell. He hasn't used them since that day," Sputnik quoted Dunford saying at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.

Earlier on April 7, US had launched a total of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles on Ash Sha'irat airfield.

US President Donald Trump said that the attack was a response to the reported chemical weapon use in Idlib where Washington put the blame on Assad's government.

Joseph Dunford rejected the accusations and reminded everybody that all chemical weapons in Syria were destroyed under oversight of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) after the east Ghouta sarin gas incident in 2013.

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First Published: Jul 23 2017 | 12:02 PM IST

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