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Hundreds poisoned in US-led coalition’s strike on IS depot in Deir ez-Zor

According to the Syrian army command, hundreds of people died from poisoning

BEIRUT, April 13. /TASS/. Hundreds of people died from poisoning after an air strike by the US-led coalition on the headquarters and the depots of the Islamic State terrorist organization (outlawed in Russia) near Deir ez-Zor, the Syrian army command said in a statement circulated by SANA news agency.

The US-led coalition struck the terrorists’ positions at 5:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday. The air strike killed a large number of terrorists, including mercenaries, the statement said.

"However, a yellow smoke rose over the depot after the bombing. This is evidence that the depot stored chemical agents," according to the document.

"As a result, hundreds of people, including civilians, died as a result of poisoning," the statement reads.

The Syrian army command did not give the exact number of people who had died or suffered in the coalition’s bombing.

"This incident confirms once again that terrorist organizations possess stocks of chemical weapons and have a possibility to get, store and use them thanks to the assistance of well-known regional states," the document says.

The Syrian army command came up with a statement on April 4, blaming terrorist gangs for the use of poisonous gases in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in the Idlib province. The statement stressed that "the Syrian army does not possess chemical munitions and all the accusations against it on this score were fabricated."

On order of US President Donald Trump, the US military fired Tomahawk missiles overnight to April 7 on an airfield in the Syrian province of Homs, from which, as Washington believed, aircraft had taken off to deliver a strike on Khan Sheikhoun.

Later, Russia blocked a draft resolution at the UN Security Council, which said that Damascus must hand over all data on April 4 flights to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and provide access to the airbases that could be used to carry out a strike against Khan Sheikhoun.

Syria’s Permanent Representative at the UN Bashar Jaafari said at the UN Security Council session that Damascus was ready to provide access for OPCW experts to the Shayrat airbase to check if it stored sarin, which, as Western countries claim, was used in the recent attack.