Turkish forces accused of chemical warfare in Syrian attack

Feb. 18 (UPI) — The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Friday released a report accusing Turkish forces of a chemical weapons attack in Afrin.

According to the agency, six people are being treated for symptoms that follow being exposed to hazardous gas, such as dilated pupils and breathing difficulties.

Jiwan Mohammad, the general director of the Afrin hospital, confirmed to the Syrian state-owned news outlet that the hospital had treated six men for “difficulty breathing, coughing, and burning all over the body,” adding the symptoms were indicative of a chemical weapon attack.

Turkish government officials denied the use of chemical weapons.

“What a reliable source you have? Stop lying,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a tweet referenced in a story by a Russian state-funded news outlet.

Tensions between Syrian Kurdish militias and the Turkish military in Syria led to Operation Olive Branch, an operation that began last month after Turkish troops, along with the Free Syrian Army, launched an attack on Kurdish military in Afrin.