'Hama gas attack pretext for Western involvement in Syria'
The latest chemical attack in Syria's west-central province of Hama is a “false flag” operation, says an analyst, adding that foreign-backed militants are seeking a pretext for the involvement of the United States, Britain and France in the war-torn Arab country.
Syrian state media on Saturday cited sources at a hospital in government-held Hama as saying that 21 people had suffered choking symptoms from poison gas after militants shelled a village.
“Well ISIS (Daesh) is on its last legs in Syria. So on the one hand, this is an act of desperation to strike out against the Syria government and Syrian civilians who are under the control of the Syrian army and government. But also, I think it may be like to find a pretext for American, British and French involvement, alleging that this is the Syrian government using gas," an international lawyer, Edward Corrigan, said in comments to Press TV on Sunday.
State news agency SANA quoted the head of the Saqilbia National Hospital as saying that the attack had taken place in the village of al-Rasif in Hama’s northern countryside. It also published images and footage of people lying in hospital beds and wearing oxygen masks.
"Therefore, they are crossing the red line and it is a way for the militants to try to get more support from the United States, Britain and France and even to provide a pretext for another aerial attack from those three Western allies against the Syrian government. So, this is like a false flag,” noted the analyst.
In the past several years, militants have launched dozens of chemical attacks in Syria. Damascus has called on the United Nations to take action in this regard.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, a global watchdog, has documented systematic use of nerve agent sarin and chlorine during Syria's eight-year conflict.
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