U.N. fears chemical weapons in Syria battle with ‘10,000 terrorists’

The United Nations called on Russia, Iran and Turkey on Thursday to forestall a battle in Syria’s Idlib province which would affect millions of civilians and could see both sides using chlorine as a chemical weapon. U.N. Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura warned that miscalculations may occur, leading to an “unforeseen escalation”. “We already went through that in the past and we need to make sure that this will not happen again”, he said, adding that the use of chemical weapons would be “unacceptable”.

• Stage set for final bloody showdown in Syria — a ‘catastrophe’ in the making