Group says Syria used chemical weapons in April

An international human rights group said today it has strong evidence that the Syrian army used chlorine gas on three rebel-held towns last month.
The statement by the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) adds to concerns that chemical weapons are still being used in Syria, months after a chemical attack killed hundreds of civilians last August.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which monitors implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, said in April that it would investigate the chlorine claims but hasn't commented further.
HRW said in a report released today that forces loyal to President Bashar Assad likely used chlorine gas packed into crude bombs in attacks in mid-April on three towns near a military base in northern Syria.

Those attacks killed at least 11 people, and wounded as many as 500. The HRW said its report was based on interviews with 10 witnesses, video footage and photographs.
Chlorine gas in bombs is not very lethal, but HRW said it appeared to have been used to terrorise residents into believing they had been gassed, to cause widespread panic.

"Evidence strongly suggests that Syrian government helicopters dropped barrel bombs embedded with cylinders of chlorine gas on three towns," said the group.
The Syrian government did not immediately comment on the HRW claims. It has accused rebels of using chlorine gas in the past.

The New York-based group said two attacks took place in the town of Kafrzeita, on April 11 and April 18 respectively, killing 2 people. The town of Temanaa was attacked on April 13 and 18, and six people died in those attacks. And an attack on the town of Telmans on April 21 killed 3.
Associated Press interviews in late April with more than a dozen activists, medics and residents on the opposition side found consistent claims that chlorine gas was used in Kafrzeita.
Although chlorine canisters are widely-available and easy to use, Nadim Houry of HRW said the government was the most likely perpetrator.

"This happened on multiple days, in different locations, and there is a consistency in what happened," Houry said.
Syrian forces frequently drop crude explosive-laden barrels onto rebel-held areas from helicopters, and opposition fighters do not have military aircraft.
HRW underscored that the use of chlorine gas as a weapon is prohibited under international law.
"This is one more reason for the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court," Houry said.