Syrian defector: Assad using chemical weapons
Non-conventional war in Syria? Security forces loyal to President Bashar Assad have been using chemical weapons against Syrian rebels, under the supervision of Iranian and Russian experts, a defecting Syrian officer charged Monday.
The officer, Captain Abd al-Salam Ahmed Abdul Razek, who served in Syrian’s chemical warfare administration, told al-Arabiya that the Syrian military used nerve gas – banned by various international conventions – in order to assist forces in their raid on the restive city of Homs.
The defecting officer added that the Syrian army’s Fourth Division and Republican Guard are expected to use chemical weapons elsewhere. Assad’s forces have access to toxins produced by Russia and a small quantity of them may cause numerous casualties, he said.
The nerve gas was used under the supervision of Russian and Iranian experts, who told the army when and how to utilize the chemical weapons, the officer added.
Meanwhile, Syrian opposition sources said that 25 people were killed during the day by army forces loyal to President Assad. The sources added that the massive bombardment of the city of Homs continues unabated.
On Sunday, 36 civilians were killed by security forces across Syria.
Doctors in Yemen say nerve gas used on protesters
Doctors from the scene of violent anti-government protests in Yemen’s capital Tuesday night said that what was originally thought to be tear gas fired by government forces on demonstrators might instead have been a form of nerve gas, which is forbidden under international law.
Military personnel opened fire and used what was originally assumed to be tear gas to disperse a group of demonstrators who were trying to bring additional tents into the protest area outside Sanaa University.
According to witnesses, the soldiers fired warning shots into the air before shooting gas — and in some cases live bullets — into the crowd, killing one and injuring at least 50.
Earlier reports indicated that the gas used was tear gas, but doctors who have been treating the wounded refuted that claim today.
“The material in this gas makes people convulse for hours. It paralyzes them. They couldn’t move at all. We tried to give them oxygen but it didn’t work,” said Amaar Nujaim, a field doctor who works for Islamic Relief.
“We are seeing symptoms in the patient’s nerves, not in their respiratory systems. I’m 90 percent sure its nerve gas and not tear gas that was used,” said Sami Zaid, a doctor at the Science and Technology Hospital in Sanaa.
Mohammad Al-Sheikh, a pathologist at the same hospital, said that some of the victims had lost their muscular control and were forced to wear diapers.