Investigators have not yet officially confirmed whether or not mustard gas was used in the attack, but if it was, their next priority is determining how the terrorist group came into possession of the chemical weapons.
Advertisement
The Syrian American Medical Society has also reported receiving 50 patients showing symptoms of chemical exposure.
The Observatory, which tracks the conflict using sources on the ground, said at least 40 of those killed during two separate Islamic State attacks on the Kweiris air base east of Aleppo city were officers.
Khatib accused the Islamic State (IS) group, which has attempted to seize Marea in recent months, of firing the shells which he said emitted a “hideous stench”.
“Initial symptoms included respiratory irritation, wheezing, coughing, irritation and redness of the eyes and mucous membranes, skin irritation, and severe itching”, a news release from SAMS said.
“It was designed to incapacitate people”, he said, as “having injured people is more effective than having dead people”, as it requires more energy to look after them.
Experts said Daesh may have used up to 200 tons of mustard gas against civilians north of Aleppo on Friday.
Two adults, a three-year-old girl and a five-day-old baby girl were treated at an MSF-run hospital in Aleppo province, northern Syria, last Friday, the charity said in a statement.
The children’s parents said that a mortar shell hit their home at about 7.30pm on 21 August.
“MSF has no laboratory evidence to confirm the cause of these symptoms”, said programme manager Pablo Marco in a statement.
‘[We] treated “four patients exhibiting symptoms of exposure to chemical agents…”
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday he was appalled by reports that Islamic State militants had demolished a temple in Syria s ancient Palmyra.
Jane-Ann McKeann, Director of MSF in Ireland, said any use of chemical weapons “constitutes an extremely severe violation of worldwide humanitarian law”.
The latest report comes less than a week after U.S. officials found traces of mustard gas in mortar shells fired by the Islamic State on Kurdish fighters on August. 11. It said regime forces kept up airstrikes against ISIS to stave off the militants, as the extremist group stepped up offensives against both government forces and other insurgents in northern Syria.
Advertisement
In Syria, the jihadist group has fiercely attacked anti-government forces in Marea in an effort to cut off a supply route into the country from Turkey.
