214 chemical attacks by Syrian regime since 2011: NGO

By Mohamed Sheikh Yusuf

ISTANBUL

Syrian regime forces carried out 214 chemical attacks against the opposition since 2011, according to a Syrian watchdog.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said these attacks have claimed the lives of at least 1,421 people.

A total of 187 children and 244 women were among the victims, the NGO said.

The report was released on the first anniversary of a regime chemical attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in the northwestern Idlib province last year, in which over 100 people were killed and hundreds injured.

The Syrian regime has carried out 11 chemical attacks since the Khan Sheikhoun attack, according to the NGO.

Last year, a UN investigation panel has concluded that Syrian regime forces were responsible for the sarin gas attack in Khan Sheikhoun.

Syria has been locked in a devastating civil war since March 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

UN officials say hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict.