The State Department thinks the Syrian government has renewed its use of chemical weapons.
Spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus released a statement Tuesday citing a Sunday attack in the war-torn country as evidence for the claim.
A little over a year after the U.S. ordered airstrikes in Syria for its use of chemical weapons against civilians, the U.S. says that there has been another attack and warned against further escalation. Ortagus said that the U.S. believes that chlorine gas was used by Syrian strongman Bashar Assad’s regime Sunday in northwest Syria.
“We are still gathering information on this incident, but we repeat our warning that if the Assad regime uses chemical weapons, the United States and our allies will respond quickly and appropriately,” Ortagus said.
She went on to say that the alleged attack is “part of a violent campaign by the Assad regime that violates a ceasefire that has protected several million civilians in the greater Idlib area.”
Ortagus said that Russia is colluding with Assad’s regime to push the false narrative that Assad is not behind the attacks, but rather opposition forces.
“At times, Russia and the Assad regime have made these false allegations as a pretext in advance of the Assad regime’s own barbaric chemical weapons attacks,” the statement reads. “The facts, however, are clear: the Assad regime itself has conducted almost all verified chemical weapons attacks that have taken place in Syria.”
“The Assad regime’s culpability in horrific chemical weapons attacks is undeniable,” the statement concludes.
Russia continues to support the Assad regime with airstrikes targeting rebels who have resisted government control during the eight-year civil war.
