IS accused in Syria mustard gas attack as rebels push back regime

Activists accused the Islamic State (IS) group Friday of being behind a deadly gas attack in northern Syria this past summer, as the global chemical weapons watchdog confirmed it was mustard gas.

Meanwhile, Islamist rebels wrested back a flashpoint town in the central province of Hama, reversing the last of gains the army had made in a month-old offensive.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on Friday confirmed with "utmost confidence" that mustard gas was used in August in Syria.

A report from OPCW fact-finding teams said an infant was "very likely" killed in the attack on Marea, a town in Aleppo province, on August 21.

OPCW said the mustard gas was used by non-state actors, but activists and a monitoring group said it was clear that IS was behind the attack.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, said "IS used toxic gases during its attack on Marea in August."

He said IS had likely gotten the gas through Turkey or Iraq.

Journalist Maamun al-Khatib, who was in Marea at the time, said: "We knew it was IS because all the shells were being fired east of Marea, and that area is totally under the control of IS."

IS has attacked Marea for months in an effort to cut off a supply route into the country from Turkey.

For activist Nizar al-Khatib, OPCW's report "comes too late and isn't enough, because it doesn't identify IS as the one responsible for firing the mustard gas."

Caption: A file picture shows volunteers wearing gas masks during a class on how to respond to a chemical attack, in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.

Photo: www.channelnewsasia.com