"The United States strongly condemns any and all use of chemical weapons... We are formally requesting that the United Nations urgently investigate this new allegation. The U.N. investigative team, which is currently in Syria, is prepared to do so," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a statement Wednesday.
A new report stated that chemical weapons were used by Bashar al Assad's army against people loyal to the opposition forces, as part of the current war in Syria, The United Nations called for an emergency Security Council session on Wednesday to address the latest allegations.
In the report, Assad's forces have been accused of gassing as many as 1,300 people, in what would be considered the worst chemical attack in decades. Assad's army has vehemently denied the accusations. Its chief ally, and weapons supplier, Russia also suggested that rebel forces may have staged the assault to provoke international action. Nonetheless, Russia has also called for a thorough investigation.YNET News in Israel reported.
"All this cannot but suggest that once again we are dealing with a pre-planned provocation," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Lukashevich said in a statement. Lukashevich added that its sources in the country said that a homemade rocket carrying unidentified chemical substances were launched from an area controlled by the opposition.
"Many of the casualties are women and children," Bayan Baker, a nurse at Douma Emergency Collection Facility, said. "They arrived with their pupils constricted, cold limbs and foam in their mouths. The doctors say there are typical symptoms of nerve gas victims."
Professor Ake Sellström, a Swedish scientist who is leading the U.N. team into investigations of whether either side has used chemical weapons, recently arrived to the region.
"It would be very peculiar if it was the government to do this at the exact moment the international inspectors come into the country," said Rolf Ekeus, a retired Swedish diplomat who headed a team of U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq in the 1990s.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said he was shocked to hear the reports of the alleged use of chemical weapons near Damascus.
Ban's statement "reiterated that any use of chemical weapons by any side under any circumstances would violate international humanitarian law."
In the past, President Obama has said that use of chemical weapons would be seen as a clear "red line," which would enable "all options on the table" in terms of intervention. Obama's words have been perceived as vague and even nebulous as over 100,000 Syrians have already been killed, according to U.N. agencies. It was also reported in late July that 1.7 million Syrians have been forced to seek shelter in neighboring countries
"There is no military solution to Syria. There is only a political solution, and that will require leadership in order to bring people to the table," Secretary of State John Kerry said while at the U.N. in late July.
