Does it really make any difference if children die with their lungs seared out, inhaling the fire and gasses from a bomb or inhaling an illegal gas?

Rebel warehouse with chem weapons hit by Syrian airstrike in Idlib – Russian MOD

Published time: 4 Apr, 2017 23:19Edited time: 5 Apr, 2017 09:54

The Syrian Air Force has destroyed a warehouse in Idlib province where chemical weapons were being produced and stockpiled before being shipped to Iraq, Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesman said.

The strike, which was launched midday Tuesday, targeted a major rebel ammunition depot east of the town of Khan Sheikhoun, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.

The warehouse was used to both produce and store shells containing toxic gas, Konashenkov said. The shells were delivered to Iraq and repeatedly used there, he added, pointing out that both Iraq and international organizations have confirmed the use of such weapons by militants.

READ MORE: Intl monitoring body & West ignoring reports of ‘chemical attack’ in Mosul – Russian MoD

Dozens reported killed in alleged gas attack in Syria, military denies involvement (PHOTOS)

The same chemical munitions were used by militants in Aleppo, where Russian military experts took samples in late 2016, Konashenkov said.

The Defense Ministry has confirmed this information as “fully objective and verified,” Konashenkov added.

According to the statement, Khan Sheikhoun civilians, who recently suffered a chemical attack, displayed identical symptoms to those of Aleppo chemical attack victims.

READ MORE: Syria hands over evidence of mustard gas attack by rebels on civilians to OPCW (VIDEO)

Hasan Haj Ali, commander of the Free Idlib Army rebel group, rejected Russia’s version of the incident, saying the rebels had no military positions in the area.

“Everyone saw the plane while it was bombing with gas,” he told Reuters.

“Likewise, all the civilians in the area know that there are no military positions there, or places for the manufacture [of weapons]. The various factions of the opposition are not capable of producing these substances,” he added.

At least 58 people, including 11 children, reportedly died and scores were injured after a hospital in Khan Sheikhoun was targeted in a suspected gas attack on Tuesday morning, Reuters reported, citing medics and rebel activists. Soon after a missile allegedly hit the facility, people started showing symptoms of chemical poisoning, such as choking and fainting.

The victims were reportedly also seen with foam coming out of their mouths. While the major Syrian opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, and other pro-rebel groups put the blame on the attack onto President Bashar Assad’s government, the Syrian military dismissed all allegations as propaganda by the rebels.

Rebels ‘only people who benefited’ from Idlib chemical weapons attack – analyst

"We deny completely the use of any chemical or toxic material in Khan Sheikhoun town today and the army has not used nor will use in any place or time, neither in past or in future," the Syrian army said in a statement.

The Russian military stated it did not carry out any airstrike in the area either.
However, EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini, commenting on the incident, was quick to point to the Syrian government as a culprit, saying that it bears responsibility for the “awful” attack.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson echoed Mogherini, accusing the Syrian government of perpetrating the attack calling it “brutal, unabashed barbarism.” He argued, that besides the Syrian authorities, Iran and Russia should also bear “moral responsibility” for it.

---

1991 Under US President George Herbert Walker Bush:

After the start of the Gulf War, many Iraqis continue to mourn the loss of those loved ones killed during the U-S bombardment of Baghdad.

According to the Iraqi authorities, more than 200 people died in once incident alone when two American missiles destroyed a shelter on the outskirts of Baghdad in February 1991.

XFA


The site has since been turned into a national shrine of remembrance to those who died during the attack.

Ten years after the U-S Bombardment of Baghdad, the Iraqi people continue to visit the site of one of the worst civilian bombings of the war - the Amiria shelter on the western fringe of Baghdad.

On February 13, 1991 - almost a month after the U-S bombing campaign began - two missiles landed on the Amiria shelter, killing more than 200 civilians who had taken refuge from the bombing.

The U-S missiles shattered the structure, turning the concrete reinforced structure into a tomb.

Only a few people survived the attack.

The Amiria Shelter has now become a shrine.

Photographs of those who died - many of whom were children - now adorn the walls. 

Visitors light candles before heading to the nearby mosque to pray.

Amna Ahmed lost her mother, father, sister and two cousins in the shelter. 

When she heard the explosion, she rushed to the scene in time to witness the destructive aftermath of the attack.

SOUNDBITE: (Arabic)
"When I reached the shelter I could not see anything. Smoke, water and fire were all over the place. I saw smoke billowing out of the ceiling. I saw burnt people."
SUPER CAPTION: Amna Ahmed, Relative of Victim

Muhammad Wayss was just a boy when he was huddled into the shelter along with hundreds of others.

Although he survived the attack, he is still haunted by the experience.

SOUNDBITE: (Arabic)
"This anniversary augurs badly for me and the future is bleak. They have taken the best of us - our parents who left us while we are still eleven years of age. No father, no mother. This is hard on anyone - mothers and hundreds of those died in Al-Amiria."
SUPER CAPTION: Muhammad Wayss, Survivor

Muhammad blames the United States for the death of his father, mother and three sisters.

But for Muhammad and others, the shelter remains a potent symbol for those who make the pilgrimage, a reminder of the beginning of the hardship that many Iraqi people continue to endure.

SOUNDBITE: (Arabic)
"The American Administration claim they have no problem with the Iraqi people. This is a lie. Their problem is with the Iraqi people. They want to destroy these people. The best evidence on this is in front of you, this shelter. America pays no respect to human rights and bears no respect to the Arabs in particular."
SUPER CAPTION: Muhammad Wayss, Survivor

With United Nations sanctions still in place, many Iraqis are desperately short of food and medicines.

Literacy levels have plummeted while child mortality has escalated sharply.

The sanctions, which severely limit Iraq's ability to trade within the international community, were imposed after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990.




The sanctions will remain until the U-N Security Council certifies that Iraq is not harbouring or developing weapons of mass destruction. 

That certification has become a remote possibility as long as Iraq continues to deny U- N weapons inspectors access into the country. 

However Iraq has demanded the sanctions be lifted unconditionally.