WASHINGTON - The Syrian government may be developing new types of chemical weapons, and U.S. President Donald Trump is prepared to again order military action against Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad's forces if necessary to deter chemical attacks, senior U.S. officials said on Thursday.
Assad's government is believed to have kept part of its chemical weapons stockpile despite a U.S.-Russian deal under which Damascus was supposed to have handed over all those weapons for destruction in 2014, the officials said.
Assad's forces have continued occasional use of chemical weapons in smaller amounts since a deadly attack last April that drew a U.S. missile strike on a Syrian air base, the officials told reporters in a briefing.
Characteristics of some of those recent attacks suggest that Syria may be developing new weapons and methods for delivering poison chemicals, possibly to make it harder to trace their origin, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. But they declined to provide specifics. - Agencies