IS attacks kill dozens in Syria
Islamic State militants launched their biggest attack in months on government-held areas of the Syrian city of Deir al-Zor yesterday, killing dozens of civilians and government troops, a war monitor said.
At least six large explosions rocked the city since dawn as the militants clashed with the army and allied forces, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
Syrian government warplanes hit back against Islamic State positions, it added.
A military media unit run by Damascus's ally Hezbollah said the army was repelling attacks by the hardline jihadist group along several frontlines, including east of the city and around its military airport.
Islamic State controls most of Deir al-Zor province, which borders Iraq, including more than half the city, and has besieged the remaining government-held areas of the city for nearly two years.
The Syrian government and its Russian ally have made regular aid drops into the encircled zone, where about 200,000 people live, lacking food and medicine.
Deir al-Zor province links Islamic State's de facto capital in the Syrian city of Raqqa with territory controlled by the militant group in Iraq.
Meanwhile, international investigators have said for the first time that they suspect President Bashar al-Assad and his brother are responsible for the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict, according to a document seen by Reuters.
A joint inquiry for the United Nations and global watchdog the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had previously identified only military units and did not name any commanders or officials.
Now a list has been produced of individuals whom the investigators have linked to a series of chlorine bomb attacks in 2014-15 - including Assad, his younger brother Maher and other high-ranking figures - indicating the decision to use toxic weapons came from the very top, according to a source familiar with the inquiry.
The Assads could not be reached for comment but a Syrian government official said accusations that government forces had used chemical weapons had "no basis in truth".
The government has repeatedly denied using such weapons during the civil war, which is almost six years old, saying all the attacks highlighted by the inquiry were the work of rebels or the Islamic State militant group.
The probe is mandated by the UN Security Council to identify individuals and organisations responsible for chemical attacks in Syria.
Virginia Gamba, the head of the Joint Investigative Mechanism, denied any list of individual suspects had yet been compiled by the inquiry.
The use of chemical weapons is banned under international law and could constitute a war crime.
While the inquiry has no judicial powers, any naming of suspects could lead to their prosecution.
A Security Council resolution would be required to bring Assad and other senior Syrian officials before the International Criminal Court for any possible war crimes prosecution - something Russia would likely block.
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