By: Rachel Pulaski
As U.S. warships move closer to Syria, “Doctors Without Borders” has released a statement that 3600 Syrians are being treated for neurotoxic symptoms. Of those being treated, 355 have died since the wake of Wednesday’s mysterious “pre-dawn killer fumes”. Syrian opposition groups have reported at least 1,000 have been killed since Wednesday’s attack.
DoctorsWithoutBorders.org reported:
Three hospitals in Syria’s Damascus governorate that are supported by the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) have reported to MSF that they received approximately 3,600 patients displaying neurotoxic symptoms in less than three hours on the morning of Wednesday, August 21, 2013. Of those patients, 355 reportedly died.
Medical staff working in these facilities provided detailed information to MSF doctors regarding large numbers of patients arriving with symptoms including convulsions, excess saliva, pinpoint pupils, blurred vision and respiratory distress,” said Dr. Bart Janssens, MSF director of operations.
Today, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani admitted that chemical weapons did kill the victims in Syria. Reuters reported:
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday for the first time that chemical weapons had killed people in ally Syria and called for the international community to prevent their use.
Rouhani stopped short of saying who he thought had used the arms, but Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday said evidence pointed to rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Tehran has previously accused Syrian rebels of being behind what it called suspected chemical attacks.
Rouhani did not mention the international furore around Syrian opposition reports that government forces had killed as many as 1,000 civilians with gas in Damascus on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Obama’s new U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power is playing hooky from the Emergency Security Council Meeting on Syria to go on vacation in Ireland and to attend the Charlie Chaplin Film Festival. H/T Weasel Zippers
