******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ********************
#1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
#2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived.
#3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern.
*****************************************************************
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Slee
Readers can look at Amnesty International's report on the siege of
Sheikh Maqsoud (a predominantly Kurdish neighbourhood of Aleppo) by some
rebel groups and decide for themselves if the accusation is "spurious":
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/05/syria-armed-opposition-groups-committing-war-crimes-in-aleppo-city/
...................................
Yes, we already had that discussion, so I'll just post it here again,
and then you tell me if this spurious accusation is in the same league
as Assad's sarin massacre and whether it justifies the PYD leader
calling for US air strikes on the rebels:
Amnesty:
"There are also **allegations** that members of armed groups attacking
Sheikh Maqsoud **may have** used chemical weapons. A local doctor told
Amnesty International that on 7 and 8 April he treated six civilians and
two YPG fighters for symptoms including shortness of breath, numbness,
red eyes and severe coughing fits. Several of the victims, he said,
reported seeing yellow smoke as missiles impacted. A toxicologist
consulted by Amnesty International, who viewed video-clips of the
apparent attack and reviewed the doctor’s testimony, said the patients’
symptoms **could be** the effects of a chlorine attack. A subsequent
statement purportedly issued by the leader of the Army of Islam armed
group said that a field commander had deployed an **“unauthorised
weapon”** on Sheikh Maqsoud and that he would be held to account".
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/05/syria-armed-opposition-groups-committing-war-crimes-in-aleppo-city/
Not sure that the only cause of “shortness of breath, numbness, red eyes
and severe coughing fits” is the use of chemical weapons. Lots of “may”,
“could” etc in this report for very good reason.
But the trouble with the bit about a Jaysh Islam leader disciplining a
northern field commander (JI is almost entirely a Damascus-based group)
for use of “weapons not authorized for use in these types of
confrontations” is that JI specified it was referring to “modified Grad
rockets, not chlorine:
https://twitter.com/islamalloush0/status/718121743949414403.
_________________________________________________________
Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm
Set your options at:
http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
