Syrian rebels say the regime used poison gas
Syrian rebels hunt for snipers after attacking the municipality building in the city center of Selehattin, near Aleppo, on July 23, 2012, during fights between rebels and Syrian troops. Syrian rebels “liberated” several districts of the northern city of Aleppo on Monday, a Free Syrian Army spokesman in the country’s commercial hub said.
Several Syrians have died after inhaling a poisonous gas released by government forces, opposition activists claim. Doctors and activists said that civilians were admitted to hospitals with serious breathing problems on Sunday. Rebels say that the regime was targeting rebels with the gas, NBC reported.
"To our understanding, this is similar to poisoning with pesticide,” Mousab Azzawi, chairman of the London-based Syrian Network for Human Rights and a doctor, told NBC.
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The allegations emerged via Twitter and YouTube. Activists say that at least seven people had died after 50 were exposed to the gas, which reportedly caused suffocation, nerve paralysis, temporary blindness, a change in skin color, nausea and hallucinations, RT News reported. A number of videos on YouTube showed young men gasping for air after being exposed.
As GlobalPost reported this month, Syria is one of six countries that has not signed the Chemical Weapons Convention. A 2008 paper put out by the Center for Strategic and International Studies said that Syria is believed to possess mustard agents — also known as "blistering agents," for the burn-like wounds they cause — and nerve gas.
More from GlobalPost: Why chemical weapons are so dangerous