It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
Israel has a presence in Syria and it is thus logical that it would know if chemical weapons had been used in the civil war, a Syrian rebel leader has claimed.
Speaking to CNN, the Chief of Staff for the Free Syrian Army, General Salim Idriss, said Israel is one of the countries that now has “many, many” security services inside Syria.
He told the news network he believes Israel’s Mossad is in the country.
Idriss was responding to remarks by the head of the Research Section of Military Intelligence in the IDF, Brig. Gen. Itay Brun.
Brun said at a conference held by the Institute for National Security Studies on Tuesday that Bashar Assad's regime had used chemical weapons in Syria recently.
Several people were killed as a result of this, he said.
"To the best of our professional understanding, the regime has made use of deadly chemical weapons against the rebels in a number of incidents in the past few months," he said, referring to a March 19 incident in Aleppo province in which 31 people were killed, apparently by chemical agents.
Evidence could been seen in the physical symptoms suffered by those who had apparently been exposed to chemical agents, he said.
The White House later said that the United States has not yet concluded that Assad’s regime used chemical weapons against rebel forces, but backs a probe into the matter. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel urged caution Wednesday over the Israeli claim, saying all evidence must be weighed carefully as such allegations are "serious business".
Idriss told CNN, however, that he can confirm that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons in the Syrian cities of Homs, Aleppo and Otaiba, outside Damascus.
“We took some samples of the soil and of blood. The injured people were observed by doctors and the samples were tested and it was very clear that the regime used chemical weapons,” he said.
Idriss said his doctors gave the samples to “observers” of the civil war in Syria, but refused to name which groups.
Both Britain and France now say soil samples indicate “some use of chemical weapons.”
The general also denied Syrian government accusations that the opposition groups have used chemical weapons.
“That is just a kind of propaganda,” he said. “I can tell you that we don’t have chemical weapons. We [wouldn't] like to have such kind of weapons.”
Syria’s Information Minister claimed on Wednesday that Damascus will not use chemical weapons against its own citizens, or in the event of war with its neighbor Israel.
Minister Omran al-Zoubi said Syria would not resort to chemical weapons even if it had to go to war with Israel and use "all resources.”
"Even if Syria does have chemical weapons, our leadership and our military will not use them either against Syrians or against Israelis, above all for moral reasons and secondarily on legal and political grounds," Zoubi reportedly said at a Moscow university.
While Hagel was concluding his visit to Israel on Tuesday morning, Israeli Brigadier General Itai Brun, head of the research and analysis division of military intelligence, made headlines when he alleged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime had used chemical agents -- mostly likely sarin gas -- more than once.
Several people were killed as a result of this, he said.
"To the best of our professional understanding, the regime has made use of deadly chemical weapons against the rebels in a number of incidents in the past few months," he said, referring to a March 19 incident in Aleppo province in which 31 people were killed, apparently by chemical agents.
Evidence could been seen in the physical symptoms suffered by those who had apparently been exposed to chemical agents, he said.
Israel worried about rebels obtaining chemical weapons
Should large quantities of chemical weapons fall into the hands of dangerous rebel groups, Israel and Jordan have discussed the possibility of a full aerial campaign and even a limited ground invasion, though Jordan is said to be reluctant to commit to such options.
The success of Syrian rebel groups affiliated with the likes of Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood poses nearly as much of a threat to Jordan as it does to Israel. After taking down Assad, many of these groups see the Jordanian monarchy as their next logical target.
Originally posted by Thurisaz
reply to post by DarknStormy
no they have evidence from the many dead they are burying.
Originally posted by Thurisaz
reply to post by DarknStormy
well you can do a search for images from March 19 @ Aleppo. I won't post the images or links here.
these images are from individuals (yanno People like you or me with phones with cameras) and not used or shown in the media.
cheers
Rebels possibly behind attack
Russia says it has information proving that militants fighting against the Syrian government used chemical weapons in the northern city of Aleppo.
According to Syria’s official news agency SANA, at least 25 people were killed and many others injured after militants fired missiles containing "poisonous gases" into Aleppo’s Khan al-Assal village on Tuesday. Women and children are reported to be among the victims.
"A case of the use of chemical weapons by the armed opposition was recorded early in the morning of March 19 in Aleppo province," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement shortly after the attack.