A still image taken from a video released by Islamic State-affiliated Amaq news agency, on December 11, 2016, purports to show an Islamic State fighter shooting near what is said to be Palmyra. Handout via REUTERS TV

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there had been a suspected gas attack in Islamic State-held territory near Palmyra on Monday, amid heavy aerial bombardment of the same area which together killed at least 53 people.

Citing local sources near the site of the attack in eastern Hama province, northwest of the ancient city of Palmyra, the Observatory said there were cases of suffocation and that dozens had been wounded during heavy rocket fire on the area.

The dead included 28 children, the Observatory said.

Local sources had reported seeing dead bodies with no visible injuries, said the Observatory, a British-based group that monitors the war in Syria through a network of contacts across the country.

The reported attack came from the air and took place near the town of Uqairabat, which lies on a main road leading south into Palmyra from government-held territory, the Observatory said, without specifying who might have been responsible.

Amaq, a news service linked to Islamic State, said in an online statement that 20 people had died and around 200 were injured from breathing problems "as a result of a Russian air attack with sarin gas".

Ahmad al-Dbis, of the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM), said about 86 people had died, and about 250 were injured in the attacks on Monday.

UOSSM is a coalition of international aid agencies which funds hospitals in Syria. It used to work with staff in the area of the attack before Islamic State took over.

Both the Syrian army and Russia have denied using chemical weapons.

U.N. investigators established that sarin gas was used in parts of the rebel-held Ghouta suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus in 2013. The United States accused Syria's government of conducting the attack, which it estimated killed around 1,400 people, but Damascus denied responsibility and blamed rebels.

A United Nations investigation this year found that the Syrian military had used chlorine in attacks on rebels and that Islamic State had also used chemical weapons in attacks.

Damascus has said that the conclusions of that investigation were wrong.

On Sunday, Islamic State militants recaptured Palmyra despite dozens of Russian air strikes attempting to push them back. It had previously been driven from the city in March. </s> Russia’s Defense Ministry says it is investigating reports that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in one of its airstrikes in Syria last month.

The airstrike on May 28 was carried out on the outskirts of the militant group’s de facto capital Raqqa, on a command post where ISIS leaders were meeting, according to Russian state media reports.

 “According to information, which is being verified via different channels, the meeting was also attended by the (ISIS) leader Ibrahim Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was eliminated in the strike,” the ministry said, according to the TASS report in English. Other state media reported that more than 300 “terrorists” were killed in the strike. </s> Syrian air defences shot down eight missiles after a major air base in central Syria was struck in the early hours of Monday, Syrian state television reported. The state broadcaster said explosions were heard at the T-4 airfield near Homs, which is close to the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria. It said there were several dead and wounded. Syrian state media said they were suspected to be U.S. strikes but U.S. officials said that the U.S. military had not launched air strikes.

U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier on Sunday there would be a “big price to pay” after medical aid groups reported dozens of people were killed by poison gas in a besieged rebel-held town in Syria. The Syrian state denied government forces had launched any chemical attack. Russia, President Bashar al-Assad’s most powerful ally, called the reports fake. </s> Citing local sources near the site of the attack in eastern Hama province, northwest of the ancient city of Palmyra, the Observatory said there were cases of suffocation and that dozens had been wounded during heavy rocket fire on the area.

The dead included 28 children, the Observatory said.

Local sources had reported seeing dead bodies with no visible injuries, said the Observatory, a British-based group that monitors the war in Syria through a network of contacts across the country.

The reported attack came from the air and took place near the town of Uqairabat, which lies on a main road leading south into Palmyra from government-held territory, the Observatory said, without specifying who might have been responsible.

Amaq, a news service linked to Islamic State, said in an online statement that 20 people had died and around 200 were injured from breathing problems "as a result of a Russian air attack with sarin gas".

Ahmad al-Dbis, of the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM), said about 86 people had died, and about 250 were injured in the attacks on Monday.

UOSSM is a coalition of international aid agencies which funds hospitals in Syria. It used to work with staff in the area of the attack before Islamic State took over.

Both the Syrian army and Russia have denied using chemical weapons.

U.N. investigators established that sarin gas was used in parts of the rebel-held Ghouta suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus in 2013. The United States accused Syria's government of conducting the attack, which it estimated killed around 1,400 people, but Damascus denied responsibility and blamed rebels.

A United Nations investigation this year found that the Syrian military had used chlorine in attacks on rebels and that Islamic State had also used chemical weapons in attacks.

Damascus has said that the conclusions of that investigation were wrong.

On Sunday, Islamic State militants recaptured Palmyra despite dozens of Russian air strikes attempting to push them back. It had previously been driven from the city in March. </s> Islamic State militants put at least 12 people to death in execution-style killings in the ancient city of Palmyra, which they re-captured from the government for a second time in December, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Thursday.

The jihadist group beheaded four of the people - state employees and teachers - outside a museum, the group said. The eight others - four of them government soldiers and four of them rebel fighters captured elsewhere in Syria - were shot.

Some of the killings took place at an ancient Roman theatre in Palmyra, where Islamic State last year put at least 25 government fighters to death, the Observatory said.

Islamic State captured Palmyra for a second time from the government in December. Government forces and their militia allies, backed by Russian air power, took the city back from Islamic State in March, after first losing it in 2015. </s> Islamic State kills 12 in Palmyra, among them teachers, soldiers - monitor

BEIRUT, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Islamic State militants put at least 12 people to death in execution-style killings in the ancient city of Palmyra, which they re-captured from the government for a second time in December, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Thursday.

The jihadist group beheaded four of the people - state employees and teachers - outside a museum, the group said. The eight others - four of them government soldiers and four of them rebel fighters captured elsewhere in Syria - were shot.

Some of the killings took place at an ancient Roman theatre in Palmyra, where Islamic State last year put at least 25 government fighters to death, the Observatory said.

Islamic State captured Palmyra for a second time from the government in December. Government forces and their militia allies, backed by Russian air power, took the city back from Islamic State in March, after first losing it in 2015. (Writing by Tom Perry, editing by Larry King) </s> BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian activists say the Islamic State group has killed 12 people it held captive in the ancient city of Palmyra by shooting and beheading them.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says four of the victims, teachers and government employees, were beheaded. The Observatory and the activist Palmyra Monitor network say four opposition fighter and four pro-government troops were first shot, then beheaded. The activists say the killings took place on Wednesday

Some of the killings were carried out in the 2nd century Roman amphitheater, while others were said to have taken place in the courtyard of the Palmyra museum or in a former Russian base in Palmyra.

IS militants recaptured Palmyra in December, nine months after they were expelled from the city in a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive. </s> The Islamic State (IS) terror group has killed 12 people in different parts of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, including its famous Roman theatre, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR) said on Thursday.

The SOHR said the victims included four civilians -among them two professors -and four soldiers, who were taken captive by the terrorists amid recent clashes in Palmyra, after the IS regained control of the city on December 11, Efe news reported.

The remaining four victims were members of rebel factions, taken prisoner by IS militants during fighting in Al-Qalamoun, north of capital Damascus.

The organisation said the four civilians were beheaded on Wednesday at the Palmyra Museum square, while the others were shot dead at a former Russian army base and at the theatre.

The IS recaptured Palmyra after launching an offensive against Syrian armed forces on December 8.

The terrorists gained control of Palmyra for the first time on May 20, 2015, but were driven out by the Syrian army 10 months later, aided by aerial support from Russia.

During its dominion over the city, the feared terrorist group carried out killings at the theatre, including in July when 25 Syrian soldiers were shot dead by underage IS recruits.

During the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, Palmyra -whose Greco-Roman ruins are a Unesco World Heritage Site -was a prominent cultural hub and a nexus point for caravans travelling the Silk Road, an oasis of civilization in the midst of the central Syrian desert. </s> This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The United Nations security council has called an emergency meeting to discuss air strikes by the US-led coalition in Syria, diplomats said, after Russia said coalition warplanes had bombed and killed Syrian government forces.

Vladimir Putin questions US commitment to Syria ceasefire deal Read more

The 15-member council was due to meet behind closed doors on Saturday evening in New York, diplomats told Reuters.

The US envoy to the United nations, Samantha Power, said she regretted loss of life in the Syria airstrike, but said the Russian call for the security council meeting was “a stunt”.

Earlier on Saturday Russia’s ministry of defense said coalition planes had killed 62 Syrian soldiers, wounded 100 more and allowed Islamic State militants to gain an advantage through the strike.

The Pentagon did not outright admit that coalition planes had hit Syrian forces, but said that pilots had “believed they were striking a Daesh [Isis] fighting position” and may have struck Syrian government forces instead.

The death toll could not immediately be confirmed. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based group that has tracked casualties of the war, reported that about 80 Syrian soldiers were killed. The Russian defense ministry said more than 100 were injured.

In a statement, the ministry echoed questions from President Vladimir Putin about US commitment to a shaky ceasefire deal brokered by the two countries, and said the airstrikes could be evidence that American officials had not consulted with their counterparts in Moscow.

“If this airstrike was the result of a targeting error,” Russian major general Igor Konashenkov said in a statement, “it is a direct consequence of the US side’s stubborn unwillingness to coordinate its action against terrorist groups on Syrian territory with Russia.”



Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, was subsequently quoted by Ria Novosti saying the Kremlin would demand an explanation at the UN.

“We are reaching a really terrifying conclusion for the whole world,” she said, according to the state-owned news agency. “The White House is defending Islamic State. Now there can be no doubts about that.

“We demand a full and detailed explanation from Washington. That explanation must be given at the UN Security Council.”

Konashenkov did not identify the planes’ country of origin, but said they were part of the US-led coalition. US central commmand (Centcom) said “Russian counterparts” had been consulted.

The Russian defense ministry said Isis militants were emboldened by the airstrikes, which hit an airport near Deir al-Zor, and that the forces of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad were now fighting a pitched battle against those of the terror group. It also said the strikes were conducted between 5pm and 5.30pm local time by two F-16s and A-10s that entered the country from the direction of Iraq.

SOHR said Russian warplanes had been bombing the same region recently, citing a source at the airport who also said Isis fighters had used the strike to overrun a government position.



Centcom acknowledged the strikes in a statement, saying: “Coalition forces believed they were striking an [Isis] fighting position that they had been tracking for a significant amount of time before the strike.”

The statement added: “The coalition airstrike was halted immediately when coalition officials were informed by Russian officials that it was possible the personnel and vehicles targeted were part of the Syrian military.”

Centcom said the coalition had struck the area in the past, and that its members had “earlier informed Russian counterparts of the upcoming strike”.

“It is not uncommon for the Coalition Air Operations Center to confer with Russian officials as a professional courtesy and to deconflict,” the command center said, “although such contact is not required by the current US-Russia Memorandum of Understanding on safety of flight.”

The statement added that “coalition forces would not intentionally strike a known Syrian military unit” and that they would “review this strike and the circumstances surrounding it to see if any lessons can be learned”.

The US and Russia last week brokered a controversial ceasefire that made provisions for joint strikes on jihadi militants, even though the Kremlin stands accused of killing 2,000 civilians in six months of strikes.



Many Russian strikes have targeted US-backed groups that oppose Assad’s government, which is itself responsible for tens of thousands of civilians killed, many with chemical weapons, according to rights groups. The US says its bombing campaign has killed 55 civilians, though rights groups say at least 210 died in the battle for the city of Manbij alone.

Migrant death toll expected to exceed 10,000 in 2016 Read more

Elements of the Syria pact have been resisted by leaders in the Pentagon, including defense secretary Ash Carter. State-owned Russian news agencies have quoted military officials as saying that Syrian rebels have violated the ceasefire agreement 55 times already. Rebels have alleged violations by Assad’s forces.

Aid shipments into the devastated city of Aleppo have yet to be allowed to reach civilians. More than 470,000 people have been killed in the Syrian civil war since 2011, according to the Syrian Center for Policy Research.

On Saturday, Putin blamed ceasefire violations and the aid blockade on resistance from Washington, saying Americans “still cannot separate the so-called healthy part of the opposition from the half-criminal and terrorist elements.

“In my opinion, this comes from the desire to keep the combat potential in fighting the legitimate government of Bashar Assad. But this is a very dangerous route.”

Putin has supported Assad’s government since the start of the war with money, aid and arms, and, since last September, with airstrikes.
Russian airstrikes against ISIS in Palmyra kill 5 people.