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Assad Uses Chem Weapons as Syria Battles Spread

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Syrian President Bashar Assad's army has used chemical weapons at least 29 times in the past year, according to testimony delivered Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The action has been documented by congressional investigators, and is a clear crossing of President Barack Obama's "red line" of three years ago when he said Assad must be held accountable for his use of chemical weapons against civilians.

Last year, the administration and the United Nations forged a deal with the Assad regime to remove Syria's chemical wepons stockpile, which Secretary of State John Kerry hailed as a "success."

But House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., in a statement for committee hearings obtained by The Washington Times, said Assad's forces have attacked civilians with chlorine bombs in the Syrian city of Idlib near the Turkish border.

"What first appeared to be random and irregular attacks has become a steady unending series with the aim of decimating the middle class in Idlib," Royce said.

"In almost all cases, the chorine was delivered by a barrel bomb dropped from a helicopter. Assad has seen the world's complacency and decided that he can literally get away with mass murder," Royce added.

The use of chlorine was left out of the agreement brokered by the United States and United Nations.

"We are certain that the proponderence of those attacks have been carried out by the regime, and we're putting together a portfolio of that data that supports that even as we speak now," Kerry admitted on Tuesday.

Documentation of the chorine attacks comes as battles within Syria have intensified.

A rocket siren sounded on Israel's Golan Heights Wednesday after fighting between rival factions and the Syrian government spread to towns near Israel's borders with Lebanon and Syria.

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About The Author

John
Waage

John Waage has covered politics and analyzed elections for CBN New since 1980, including primaries, conventions, and general elections. He also analyzes the convulsive politics of the Middle East.