[Wired] Opposition activists in Syria are claiming that the embattled regime of Bashir al-Assad gassed rebel forces in the battleground city of Homs on Sunday. U.S. officials tell Danger Room that they are skeptical about the rebels' chemical weapon claims, however.Al Jizz reported that seven people died after inhaling a gas sprayed by government forces in a part of Homs held by the rebel Free Syrian Army. "We don't know what this gas is but medics are saying it's something similar to sarin," rebel Raji Rahmet Rabbou told the Qatar-based news organization.
The "poisonous material" was deployed by government warplanes, Haaretz reported, citing a rebel statement. The Assad regime, meanwhile, is blaming the rebels for the attack.
Al Jizz posted two videos it said were obtained from "a field clinic in the city." The graphic videos appear to depict gasping victims of what could be construed as a nerve agent attack. However,
there's more than one way to stuff a chicken...
the origins and contents of these videos have yet to be verified by other sources.
U.S. officials note that several things about the video are inconsistent with a sarin strike. There are complaints of strong smells; sarin is odorless. There are reports that the victims inhaled large amounts of the chemical; a minuscule of amount of inhaled sarin can be fatal.
"It just doesn't jive with chemical weapons," one U.S. official tells Danger Room.
In fact, the symptoms shown in these videos might have been caused by other chemicals -- possibly chlorine, phosgene, or cyanogen chloride, according to one independent review of the clips. Or we might simply be seeing a severe asthma attack.
Seven people keeled over dead from the same asthma attack?
The specter of chemical warfare has long loomed over the brutal Syrian conflict, which rebels claimed has killed no fewer than 37,000 people. As early as this summer Assad's regime warned it might deploy its 500-ton chemical stockpile. "There was a moment we thought they were going to use it -- especially back in July," a U.S. official told Danger Room. "But we took a second look at the intelligence, and it was less urgent than we thought."