Has Syria become a chemical war? Russia accuses rebels of using 'toxic' weapons in attack that left 25 dead

• Russia's Foreign Ministry said use of chemical weapons was alarming
• Syrian government and rebels blame each other for attack near Aleppo
• Anti-chemical weapons body OPCW says it is monitoring situation closely

Russia's Foreign Ministry accused Syrian rebels of using chemical weapons to kill 16 people in an attack on a rural area near Aleppo today, calling it an extremely alarming and dangerous development.
A spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said: 'A case of the use of chemical weapons by the armed opposition was recorded early in the morning of March 19 in Aleppo province.
'We are very seriously concerned by the fact that weapons of mass destruction are falling into the hands of the rebels, which further worsens the situation in Syria and elevates the confrontation in the country to a new level.'

Syrians carry an injured man from a building that was hit by a Syrian forces airstrike in Aleppo today

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad's government and rebels blamed each other for launching a deadly chemical attack which, if confirmed, would be the first use of such weapons in the two-year conflict.
Today the Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoabi insisted that the country's armed forces would never use internationally banned weapons, after the government and rebels argued over who was behind what both sides said was a chemical weapon attack near Aleppo.
Speaking at a televised news conference, Mr Zoabi said: 'Syria's army leadership has stressed this before and we say it again, if we had chemical weapons we would never use them due to moral, humanitarian and political reasons.

 

'Our armed forces absolutely could not use, not now, nor at any time, nor in the past, any weapon banned by international law.'
Britain said it was aware of such reports and said if they were true, it would 'demand a serious response' from the international community.
A statement from the Foreign Office said: 'We’re aware of today’s press reports alleging that a chemical weapon was fired in the north of Syria and are looking into them.

A boy, affected in what the government said was a chemical weapons attack, is treated at a hospital in Aleppo

Syrian residents inspect houses destroyed by Syrian forces in the al-Marieh area of Aleppo province

'The use of chemical weapons would be abhorrent and universally condemned. The UK is clear that the use or proliferation of chemical weapons would demand a serious response from the international community and would force us to revisit our approach so far.'
Meanwhile an international anti-chemical weapons body said it had no independent information about any use of such arms in Syria, but said it was 'closely monitoring' the situation.
Ahmet Uzumcu, director general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said it would look at media reports about what had happened and 'try to identify the symptoms which may be detected' in order to make an assessment.

Residents and medics transport a Syrian Army soldier, wounded in what they said was a chemical attack near Aleppo, to hospital today

Mr Uzumcu told reporters: 'I don't think we know more than you do at the moment. Of course we have seen those reports and we are closely monitoring the situation.'
Addressing a seminar held by the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, he earlier said reports that Syria had large stockpiles of such arms was a 'major source of concern'.
The OPCW, the Hague-based organisation founded to oversee a ban on the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons, has 188 member nations, but has struggled to bring on board countries in the Middle East.
Because it has not signed the chemical weapons ban treaty and the United Nations has not intervened, Syria is under no international obligation to declare its chemical weapons, give them up or allow inspectors to monitor them.
Mr Uzumcu said he would not want to send experts to a conflict zone.

A man wounded in the alleged chemical weapons attack is treated at a hospital in the Syrian city of Aleppo

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2295811/Russia-accuses-Syrian-rebels-killing-25-banned-chemical-weapons.html#ixzz2O0WtQF00