Konflikten i Syrien

Children are killed in gas attack by Assad's forces in Syria, claims rights group.

Syrian government forces allegedly carried out a suspected gas attack that killed a family of six, including three children, a Syrian human rights watchdog has claimed.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said alleged gas attacks on the north-eastern town of Sarmin also injured dozens more civilians.

The Observatory said those injured suffered from "suffocation" after "barrel bombardment".

It quoted sources who said those killed in the attack included a man, his wife, their three children and a grandmother.

The SOHR also cited medical sources as saying they died as a result of gas from barrel bombs containing a chemical likely to be chlorine.

A voice off-camera said the name of the town, Sarmin.

"One of the infants, only a few months old," a male voice can be heard saying as he films a baby on a stretcher with liquid around its mouth.

Two more infants with limp bodies are brought in, one by a man wearing a gas mask and another man carrying a young girl.

Syria's suspected chemical weapon attack in Syria almost led Britain to war in 2013.

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has always denied the highly-controversial use of barrel-bombs by his forces, despite overwhelming evidence suggesting they are dropped on rebel-held areas.

He also denied using chlorine gas as part of a chemical weapons attack against his own people, claiming the substance was more likely to be found in households than within the military.

Syria's President Assad sacks head of military security. The dismissal follows an earlier dispute between the heads of the military and political security branches. (AFP)

Syrian President Bashar Assad dismissed Wednesday the powerful head of the Military Security branch, Lt. Gen. Rafik Shehadeh, according to media reports.

The move resulted from an earlier dispute between Shehadeh and Maj. Gen. Rustom Ghazaleh, the head of Political Security, the reports said.

Maj. Gen. Mohammad Mahalla was named as Shehadeh’s replacement, according to some anti-regime outlets, while others indicated that Ghazaleh had also been relieved of his duties.

Earlier this month, Ghazaleh was reportedly discharged from a Damascus hospital after he received a severe beating from bodyguards acting on Shehadeh’s orders. The incident was said to have been sparked by the regime’s growing anger at Ghazaleh, after he expressed his anger over the expanded role of Iran and Hezbollah in military operations.

http://m.albawaba.com/news/syria's-president-assad-sacks-head-of-military-security-671042