WAR CRIME

Autopsies: Sarin Gas Killed Syrian Civilians

Turkish officials spoke out after country treated victims.

Turkey said on Thursday that autopsies on three Syrians who died in Tuesday’s Idlib province attack confirmed the use of chemical weapons—specifically sarin gas—by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. More than 30 Syrians were transported to Turkey for medical treatment after the attack. Three died in the hospital. “Based on the test results, evidence was detected in patients which leads one to think they were exposed to a chemical substance [sarin],” Turkey’s health ministry said. In an interview published Thursday, Assad said there is no “option except victory” in his country’s bloody six-year civil war. Assad’s interview with Croatian newspaper Vecernji List likely took place before President Donald Trump said he crossed “many, many lines” with his chemical gas attack on his own civilians this week. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group has raised the death toll from the Khan Sheikhoun attack to 86, with two-thirds of the victims women and children, and more than 500 injured.