Photo Credit: Local Committee of Arbeen
Girl being treated at a field hospital in Arbeen, Syria after chemical weapons attack. (September 2013)

Forces fighting for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad attacked a civilian area near Damascus using chlorine gas early Saturday (Jan. 13) morning.

It’s not the first time.

Advertisement




Assad forces used chemical weapons to attack rebels back in November 2017 during a campaign to retake the area around Mazra’at Beit Jinn, near Mount Hermon.

At the time, Assad forces threw explosive drums containing what was believed to have been chlorine gas on the hill, according to the The Jerusalem Post, quoting Abo Omar al Golany, spokesperson for the Revolutionary Command Council in Quneitra and the Golan. The rebel forces in those areas have since evacuated, due to the takeover of the region by the conquering regime army. Three Syrian casualties at the time were treated in Israel for injuries sustained during the attack.

The area struck on Saturday by the chemical weapons is controlled by rebel forces, according to the report posted by Rotter.net, quoting a tweet from a local source.

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>important statement from <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Douma?src="https://www.jewishpress.com/wp-content/uploads/Jewish-Press-Small-Logo-Rectangle.jpg?v=1.0.5" style="display: none;"hash&amp;ref_src="https://www.jewishpress.com/wp-content/uploads/Jewish-Press-Small-Logo-Rectangle.jpg?v=1.0.5" style="display: none;"twsrc%5Etfw”>#Douma</a> Local Council 13/1/2018<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/syria?src="https://www.jewishpress.com/wp-content/uploads/Jewish-Press-Small-Logo-Rectangle.jpg?v=1.0.5" style="display: none;"hash&amp;ref_src="https://www.jewishpress.com/wp-content/uploads/Jewish-Press-Small-Logo-Rectangle.jpg?v=1.0.5" style="display: none;"twsrc%5Etfw”>#syria</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Damascus?src="https://www.jewishpress.com/wp-content/uploads/Jewish-Press-Small-Logo-Rectangle.jpg?v=1.0.5" style="display: none;"hash&amp;ref_src="https://www.jewishpress.com/wp-content/uploads/Jewish-Press-Small-Logo-Rectangle.jpg?v=1.0.5" style="display: none;"twsrc%5Etfw”>#Damascus</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/chemical_attacks?src="https://www.jewishpress.com/wp-content/uploads/Jewish-Press-Small-Logo-Rectangle.jpg?v=1.0.5" style="display: none;"hash&amp;ref_src="https://www.jewishpress.com/wp-content/uploads/Jewish-Press-Small-Logo-Rectangle.jpg?v=1.0.5" style="display: none;"twsrc%5Etfw”>#chemical_attacks</a> <a href=”https://t.co/xlGKGH5khQ”>pic.twitter.com/xlGKGH5khQ</a></p>&mdash; ahmad mohamad (@ahmad09904) <a href=”https://twitter.com/ahmad09904/status/952147378949238784?ref_src="https://www.jewishpress.com/wp-content/uploads/Jewish-Press-Small-Logo-Rectangle.jpg?v=1.0.5" style="display: none;"twsrc%5Etfw”>January 13, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://www.jewishpress.com/wp-content/uploads/Jewish-Press-Small-Logo-Rectangle.jpg?v=1.0.5" style="display: none;"”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

Other reports in Arab media this weekend likewise confirmed the use of chlorine gas by the Assad regime forces targeting rebels east of Damascus, specifically around Harsta and Douma. According to these same reports, the Syrian government forces fired eight chlorine gas missiles at the civilian-populated areas controlled by the rebels.

 


Share this article on WhatsApp:
Advertisement

SHARE
Previous articleNetanyahu Heads for Mumbai with Massacre Survivor
Next articleGal Gadot Raises Eyebrows on Instagram Page of Lebanese Fashion Designer Elie Saab
Hana Levi Julian is a Middle East news analyst with a degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from Southern Connecticut State University. A past columnist with The Jewish Press and senior editor at Arutz 7, Ms. Julian has written for Babble.com, Chabad.org and other media outlets, in addition to her years working in broadcast journalism.