Militants used unknown liquid in NW Syria: Report

Syrian media say foreign-backed militants have used an unknown liquid to kill a number of civilians in the country’s northwest.

According to a report by the official SANA news agency on Wednesday, several people have been killed due to exposure to poisonous fumes from the liquid in Idlib.

Meanwhile, Turkish officials said they were testing blood samples taken from Syrian casualties to determine whether they were victims of a chemical weapons attack.

Earlier in the day, Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations Bashar al-Jaafari said the foreign-backed militants in the Arab country used chemical material against civilians during an attack on a town near Idlib.

He added that some of the victims had been transferred to Turkey in a pre-arranged scenario.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of Syrian army and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.

Damascus says the West and its regional allies, such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, are supporting the militants.

In an interview recently broadcast on Turkish television, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that if the militants take power in Syria, they could destabilize the entire Middle East region for decades.

“If the unrest in Syria leads to the partitioning of the country, or if the terrorist forces take control… the situation will inevitably spill over into neighboring countries and create a domino effect throughout the Middle East and beyond,” he stated.