This frame grab from a video provided on Tuesday by the Syrian anti-government activist group Edlib Media Center shows a victim of a suspected chemical attack as he receives treatment at a makeshift hospital, in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, northern Idlib province, Syria. /AP
BEIRUT, Lebanon— A chemical weapons attack in an opposition-held town in northern Syria killed dozens of people on Tuesday, leaving residents gasping for breath and convulsing in the streets and overcrowded hospitals. The Trump administration blamed the Syrian government for the attack, one of the deadliest in years, and said Syria’s patrons, Russia and Iran, bore “great moral responsibility” for the deaths.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 58 people died, including 11 children, in the early morning attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, which witnesses said was carried out by Sukhoi jets operated by the Russian and Syrian governments.
Videos from the scene showed volunteer medics using fire hoses to wash the chemicals from victims’ bodies. Haunting images of lifeless children piled in heaps reflected the magnitude of the attack, which was reminiscent of a 2013 chemical assault that left hundreds dead and was the worst in the country’s ruinous six-year civil war.
Tuesday’s attack drew swift condemnation from world leaders, including President Donald Trump, who denounced it as a “heinous” act that “cannot be ignored by the civilized world.” The UN Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting for Wednesday in response to the strike, which came on the eve of a major international donors’ conference in Brussels on the future of Syria and the region.
In a statement, Trump also blamed former President Barack Obama for “weakness” in failing to respond aggressively after the 2013 attack.
“These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration’s weakness and irresolution,” Trump said.
“President Obama said in 2012 that he would establish a ‘red line’ against the use of chemical weapons and then did nothing. The United States stands with our allies across the globe to condemn this intolerable attack.”
Trump left it to his top diplomat, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, to assign at least some blame to Russia and Iran, Assad’s most powerful allies. /AP
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