Reuters said the Assads could not be reached for comment, but it cited a Syrian government official as saying accusations that government forces had used chemical weapons had "no basis in truth." CHLORINE BARREL BOMBS

Syria joined the international Chemical Weapons Convention under a U.S.-Russian deal that followed the deaths of hundreds of civilians in a sarin gas attack in Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus in August 2013. WASHINGTON The United States on Thursday blacklisted 18 senior Syrian officials it said were connected to the country's weapons of mass destruction program, after an international investigation found Syrian government forces were responsible for chlorine gas attacks against civilians.The action marked the first time the United States has sanctioned Syrian military officials for the government's use of chemical weapons, according to a Treasury Department statement.A joint inquiry by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) found that Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks and that Islamic State militants had used mustard gas, according to reports seen by Reuters in August and October.Chlorine's use as a weapon is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria joined in 2013.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons says, for the first time, that they suspect Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other senior officials of the Syrian government are responsible for the use of chemical weapons in the conflict.