Washington D.C. [United States], Apr. 5 : White House press secretary Sean Spicer has said that a gas attack in a rebel-controlled area of Syria was a 'consequence' of former president Barack Obama administration's 'weakness and irresolution.' "Today's chemical attack in Syria against innocent people including women and children is reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world.
These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution," the CNN quoted Spicer as saying.
Dozens of people, including at least ten children, were killed and over 200 injured as a result of asphyxiation caused by the exposure to an unknown gas in northern Syria on Tuesday.
Spicer said that the United States stands with its allies across the globe in condemning this intolerable act.
He said President Obama did nothing despite saying in 2012 that he would establish a red line against the use of chemical weapons.
Spicer added that President Trump had spoken with his national security team about the issue. According to Anas al-Diab, an activist with the Aleppo Media Center, airstrikes hit the city of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province giving off a poisonous gas that led to this asphyxiation.
Three more strikes hit the same city center location but did not result in any gas, al-Diab added. Doctors are attempting to evacuate the wounded to Turkey. The death toll is said to be at least 67, according to al-Diab, while the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has reported it to be 58.
The High Negotiations Committee claimed the death toll could be as high as 100 with up to 400 injured.
Activist groups have blamed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime for the attack. The Syrian Coalition, an umbrella opposition group, referred to the attack as a "crime similar to that in Eastern Ghouta in 2013 that the international community allowed to pass without accountability or punishment," in a Twitter post.
Source: ANI
