Army accused of using toxic chemical gases in attack

Smoke billowing from buildings in the city of Daraya Syria's main opposition National Coalition on Wednesday accused troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad of using poison gas in an attack on the rebel-held town of Daraya near Damascus. At least three people were killed in the attack, the group alleged in a statement.
The Coalition said the army's attack was linked to a bid by the Assad regime to ensure the opposition rejects participation in peace talks next week in Switzerland.
The group condemned "the attack that regime forces carried out against Daraya on the night of January 13".
It also called on "the international community and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to investigate reports that Assad's regime used toxic chemical gases in its attack."
It urged that "the necessary steps must be taken" should a September UN resolution ordering the destruction of Syria's chemical arsenal have been violated.
UN Security Council resolution 2118 was passed after a massive chemical weapon attack that killed hundreds in several opposition areas around Damascus in August.
Rebels and the regime exchanged blame for that attack.
Last week, the first shipment of chemical weapons materials left Latakia port under the UN resolution.
Speaking to AFP via the Internet, a member of the opposition local council's medical office in Daraya insisted there had been a poison gas attack.
One person died instantly, and two others died later, said the source.
The patients had symptoms including "nervous convulsions, choking, contraction of the iris, and frothing at the mouth," said the Daraya resident.
He also said the medical office of the local council does not have the necessary medication or equipment to adequately treat the patients.
The army has held Daraya under tight siege for more than a year. Fierce fighting rages regularly on its edges, and it suffers near daily aerial and artillery attacks.
In its statement, the Coalition said "the savagery of recent attacks (against opposition areas) show the Assad regime's real position on... a political solution" for the Syrian conflict.
It also recalled a recent aerial offensive against Aleppo in the north, which killed more than 600 people, most of them civilians, in three weeks.
The Coalition is set to hold a final meeting on January 17, to decide whether it will participate in the so-called Geneva II peace talks, scheduled to begin five days later.
A key Coalition bloc, the Syrian National Council, has threatened to withdraw from the group should there be a decision to attend the Geneva II talks.
Source: AFP