PARIS — France said on Tuesday the United Nations Security Council had to respond over the use of chemical weapons in Syria with a resolution that would punish those responsible for repeated attacks.
Syrian government forces used chemical weapons in opposition-controlled parts of Aleppo during battles to retake the city late last year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report published on Monday.
The findings add to mounting evidence of the use of banned chemical weapons in the six-year-old Syrian civil war and could strengthen calls by Britain, France and the United States for sanctions against Syrian officials.
While not confirming the report, a French Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a daily briefing the allegations were “extremely serious.”
“It is up to the Security Council to act. France ... continues to discuss with its partners at the Security Council to adopt a resolution to punish those responsible for these attacks,” the spokesman said.
“The use of weapons of mass destruction constitute a war crime and a threat to peace. Impunity is not an option.”
Government helicopters dropped chlorine bombs “in residential areas in Aleppo on at least eight occasions between November 17 and Dec. 13, 2016,” the New York-based group said.
Human Rights Watch said its report, which was based on interviews with witnesses, analysis of videos and photos and social media posts.
“The attacks, some of which included multiple munitions, killed at least nine civilians, including four children, and injured around 200,” it said.
Ole Solvang, deputy emergencies director at Human Rights Watch, said in an interview that the way chemical attacks moved in step with the frontline showed they were an integral part of the offensive.
“This is a strong indication that these chlorine attacks were coordinated with the overall military strategy. And it is a strong indication then that senior military officers, the commanders of this military offensive in Aleppo, knew that chlorine was being used,” he said.
