US investigates claims that Syria used chlorine gas again
Syria is accused of shelling the opposition-controlled Kabana area in northern Latakia with chlorine gas after failing to advance in the area.
ALEPPO — There's confusion, but no conclusion, so far about whether the Syrian regime on May 19 used chlorine gas yet again against opposition forces.
The Syrian government denies it used chemical weapons near Kabana in northern Latakia province. The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement May 19 saying the allegation was made by terrorist groups and was completely false, though the Idlib provincial health directorate leveled the same allegation against the regime.
But the Syrian government “has cooperated fully [in the past] with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which considered Syria free of these weapons," the Syrian Arab News Agency quoted a high-ranking Foreign Ministry source as saying on May 19.
The US State Department said in a May 21 statement that it was "gathering information" about the accusation and cautioned Syria: “We repeat our warning that if the [regime of President Bashar al-Assad] uses chemical weapons, the United States and our allies will respond quickly and appropriately.”
