Syria’s Government on Saturday said rebel fighters had used chemical weapons in a northeastern district of the capital, countering charges by insurgents that the regime was behind such attacks.
State television ran footage of “barrels filled with highly dangerous toxic and chemical agents” as well as gas masks, saying they were only a small sample of what had been unearthed in overrunning rebel positions. The rebels “used these agents to try to halt the advance of the Army,” it said.
“An Army unit is surrounding a sector of Jobar where terrorists used chemical weapons,” said the State broadcaster, adding that soldiers who tried to enter the neighbourhood had “suffocated”.