The Syrian military have discovered a warehouse with chemical agents in a suburb of Damascus. Correspondent of the Al-Ihbariya Syrian information channel Yara Saleh who was among the journalists who inspected the site of the scary find has given an exclusive interview to The Voice of Russia. She says that the discovered warehouse was at the same time a laboratory where shells were stuffed with poisonous chemicals.
The Syrian military found chemical weapons in the rebels’ tunnel located in the Jobar suburb of Damascus. Later the Syrian state TV showed the discovered poisonous agents and medical drugs.
Journalist Yara Saleh of the Al-Ihbariya Syrian information channel provided The Voice of Russia with more details about this discovery.
“The rebels launched two missiles filled with poisonous gas in the Jobar neighbourhood which caused Syrian soldiers’ nausea and asphyxia.
Some time later when the Syrian army managed to take that suburb by storm they found the warehouse and laboratory where shells were stored and stuffed with poisonous agents. Boxes with new gas masks were also found, they carried labels ‘Made in US’. The fact that the rebels did not use those gas masks proves that they had not been attacked with any poisonous gases.
Two glass vessels with labels ‘Made in Saudi Arabia’ were also found there. Weapons and explosives made in Saudi Arabia were found in Syria in the past as well. Experts will determine the contents of those vessels.
In addition, they found plastic vessels containing unidentified chemicals, some strange white powder and a lot of various explosives and munitions.
The Syrian government is concerned that the rebels might have more stocks of such chemical agents that they could use against civilians.”
On the 21st of August 2013 several western and Arab TV channels reported that chemical agents had been used in the Damascus suburbs of Ain Tarma, Zamalka and Jobar. According to the media, between 20 and 625 people died as a result of an attack with the use of shells containing the sarin nerve gas.
Representatives of the opposition claim that it was the Syrian army that used chemical weapons. A spokesman for the Syrian government has announced that this statement is a far cry from reality and is aimed at disrupting the UN experts’ work.
Russia has announced that, according to its information, on the 21st of August chemical agents were used in the suburbs of Damascus by the opposition units and not by President Bashar al-Assad’s army. Accusations against the government troops are based on unverified information.
On the 21st of August the UN Security Council held an extraordinary meeting and called for a thorough investigation of the reports about the tragedy in the suburbs of Damascus. Russia shares the view that a comprehensive investigation is indispensable. It can be carried out by the UN experts already stationed in Syria.
War chemicals found in Damascus suburb
Syrian army units combing the suburbs of a Damascus Saturday have found a cache with antidote used to treat victims of chemical weapons attacks, the Syrian state television reports.
The containers showed markings indicating that the antidote was produced by an unnamed Qatari-German firm. Earlier state television reported the discovery in the Jobar suburb of several barrels reportedly containing war chemicals allegedly made in Saudi Arabia.
The Syrian state news agency SANA insists the rebels used chemical weapons against government soldiers several of whom were rushed to a local hospital.
Syria: Soldiers find chemical agents in rebel tunnel – State TV
Syrian state television said soldiers found chemical agents in rebel tunnels in the Damascus suburb of Jobar on Saturday and said some soldiers were suffocating.
“Army heroes are entering the tunnels of the terrorists and saw chemical agents,” state television quoted a “news source” as saying. “In some cases, soldiers are suffocating while entering Jobar,” it said.
“Ambulances came to rescue the people who were suffocating in Jobar,” it said, adding that an army unit was preparing to storm the suburb in which rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad are based.
Syrian activists accuse Assad’s forces of launching a nerve gas attack in Jobar and other suburbs before dawn on Wednesday, killing hundreds.
By Fahim al-Surani, Voice Of Russia