Syria troops using gas bombs - report
2012-12-24 18:00
Beirut - Syrian troops have deployed bombs containing a
killer gas while fighting rebels in the central city of Homs, the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights and activists said on Monday.
"Activists in Homs say that six rebels died on
Sunday night on the Khaldiyeh-Bayada frontline because they inhaled odourless
gas and white smoke," said the Britain-based Observatory, which relies on
a network of activists, lawyers and doctors to document Syria's raging
conflict.
"Gas spread in the area after regime troops threw
bombs that gave off white smoke as soon as they hit the walls," said the
Observatory, which added that the bombs were deployed during street clashes
with the rebels.
"Those who inhaled the gas felt nauseous and
suffered severe headaches. Some suffered fits," it added.
"These are not chemical weapons, but we do not know
whether they are internationally prohibited," Observatory director Rami
Abdel Rahman told AFP.
"Activists say it is the first time they have
recorded these effects," he added. "They are not conventional
weapons."
The Observatory called on the International Committee of
the Red Cross to urgently send a specialised medical team to Homs, several of
whose districts have been besieged by army forces for more than six months.
The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC) also reported
the use of "bombs containing gases" in Homs.
"These gases lead to muscle relaxation, severe
difficulty in breathing and the narrowing of the iris," said the LCC, a
grassroots network of peaceful activists.
Amateur video filmed by activists and distributed online
by the LCC showed a man laid out on a stretcher struggling to breathe as an
unidentified doctor held an oxygen mask over his face.
"It's definitely a poisonous gas, but we don't know
what type it is," said a field doctor.
"This man has been injured by the gas. We do not
know what type of gas it is. It is definitely not sarin," he added.
US President Barack Obama led international warnings to
President Bashar Assad over Syria's chemical weapons arsenal but Damascus has
repeatedly insisted it would not use the arms against its own people.
