MUSCAT, Oman — US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says Sunday it would be “very unwise” for the Syrian regime to use gas as a weapon against the people of Eastern Ghouta and elsewhere.
Mattis’s warning comes amid reports President Bashar Assad’s forces have used chlorine gas in the rebel-held area near Damascus, and he underscores his remarks by referencing US President Donald Trump’s strike on a Syrian airbase after an alleged chemical attack last year.
“We have made it very clear that it would be very unwise to use gas against people, civilians on any battlefield,” Mattis tells reporters accompanying him on a trip to Oman.
“I just want to reiterate that it would be very unwise for them to use weaponized gas, and I think President Trump made that very clear early in his administration.”
Mattis says he was aware of “an awful lot of reports about chlorine gas use or about symptoms that could be resulting from chlorine gas,” but indicated he did not have conclusive evidence.
Trump last April ordered a missile strike against a regime airbase at Shayrat, after Washington said it used the facility to launch a sarin nerve gas attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun, killing scores of civilians.
— AFP
US Secretary for Defense Jim Mattis speaks to reporters aboard a military jet as he travels for a visit to Oman on March 10, 2018. (AFP Photo/Thomas Watkins)
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