Hundreds, Including Civilians, Killed in US-Led Coalition’s Airstrike on Daesh Warehouse Containing Toxic Materials in Deir Ezzour

DAMASCUS, (ST)- Hundreds, including civilians were killed as a result of an airstrike carried out yesterday by the US-led Coalition’s warplanes against a huge Daesh warehouse that contained poisonous materials in the Syrian village of Hatleh in Deir Ezzour eastern countryside, according the General Command of the army and armed forces.

 The Coalition’s raid on Daesh terror organization’s headquarter in Hatla town, where a large number of foreign mercenaries had presence, caused thick white cloud and then a yellow one as a result of the explosion of a huge warehouse that contained toxic materials, the command said in a statement on Thursday. The airstrike also caused huge fire and killed hundreds of people, including civilians, as a result of suffocation.

The command stressed that the new incident proves that the terrorists possess chemical weapons and that they are able to obtain, deliver and store such kind of weapon with the help of well-known countries in the region.  It also confirms coordination between terrorist organizations and their supporters to find pretexts for carrying out chemical attacks as to blame the Syrian army, the command added.

Syria has repeatedly warned against the terrorists’ ability to possess and use chemical weapons and every time these groups use chemical weapons against Syrian civilians and army personnel the Syrian government informs the UN and the Security Council about these incidents.

The General Command reaffirmed that “it doesn’t have any kind of chemical weapons and has never used them,” warning of the danger of the terrorist groups’ persistence in using chemical weapons against civilians with a cover from the West.

Hamda Mustafa