Pope Francis said on Wednesday he was horrified by the suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria, calling it an “unacceptable massacre” of innocent civilians.
Western countries, including the United States, blamed Syrian government forces for the attack, which choked scores of people to death in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in a rebel-held area of northern Syria hit by government air strikes.
The Syrian army has denied any role.
“We look on horrified by the recent events in Syria,” he told tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square for his weekly general audience.
Expressing his “firm deploration of the unacceptable massacre that took place yesterday,” the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics said he was praying for “the defenceless victims, including many children”.
Francis appealed to “the consciences of those who hold political power, both at the local and international levels so that these tragedies end”.
Russia said on Wednesday contamination in the area was the result of gas leaking from a rebel chemical weapon depot after it was hit by Syrian government air strikes.
Francis also condemned the bombing on Tuesday of the metro in St. Petersburg, Russia, which killed 14 people and wounded about 50 others.
NAN reports that Turkey said its findings indicate that the attack which killed scores of people including children in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib was a chemical attack.
Health Minister Recep Akdag told reporters in Turkey’s northeastern province of Erzurum in comments broadcast live that around 30 people had been brought across the border to Turkish hospitals for treatment as of Tuesday.
He did not give details of the findings.
The U.S., Britain and France on Tuesday proposed a UN Security Council resolution condemning the attack which they have blamed on Syrian government forces.
The Syrian military denied responsibility.
NAN.
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