US warns of renewed Syria gas attacks

The White House has warned it could take action against Damascus if reported gas attacks continue.
A Syrian man shows remnants of rockets reportedly fired by regime forces on the rebel-held besieged town of Douma in the eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus on January 22, 2018. At least 21 cases of suffocation, including children, were reported in Syria in a town in eastern Ghouta, a beleaguered rebel enclave east of Damascus, an NGO accusing the regime of carrying out a new chemical attack said. Since the beginning of the war in Syria in 2011, the government of Bashar al-Assad
A Syrian man shows remnants of rockets reportedly fired by regime forces on the rebel-held besieged town of Douma in the eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital, Damascus, Jan. 22, 2018. - GETTY/Hasan Mohamed
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Laura Rozen
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WASHINGTON — The United States warned Feb. 1 that it was assessing reports of the repeated use of suspected chlorine gas attacks by the Syrian regime in the past month, and it warned that it could take action if they do not stop.

“We are watching very carefully, and the United States is extremely concerned about yet another report of the use of chlorine gas by the Syrian regime to terrorize innocent civilians in east Ghouta, Syria, outside of Damascus,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told journalists Feb. 1.

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