US coalition hit Daesh poison gas depot, Syria says

The Assad regime's Syrian army said that an air strike late on Wednesday by the U.S.-led coalition hit poison gas supplies belonging to the Daesh terror group, releasing a toxic substance that killed "hundreds including many civilians."

The incident in the eastern Deir al-Zor province proved that Daesh and al Qaeda-linked terrorists "possess chemical weapons", a statement by the army flashed on Thursday by Syrian state TV said.

The report could not immediately be independently verified.

The United States launched cruise missiles at a Syrian air base last week, in response to a deadly poison gas attack in the west of the country that Washington blamed on Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Syria and its ally Russia deny Damascus carried out any such chemical attack. Moscow has said the poison gas in that incident last week in Idlib province belonged to rebels.

The U.S. strike on the Syrian air base was the first time Washington has deliberately and directly targeted the Syrian government. It is separately waging an air campaign against Daesh in eastern Syria.