U.S. sanctions hundreds of employees of Syrian research centre

Washington: The United States on Monday blacklisted 271 employees of a Syrian government agency it said was responsible for developing chemical weapons, weeks after a poison gas attack killed scores of people in a rebel-held province in Syria.
The U.S. Treasury Department said the 271 employees of Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Centre are experts in chemistry and related fields, or have worked in support of the centre's "chemical weapons programme" since at least 2012, or both.
"These sweeping sanctions target the scientific support centre for Syrian dictator BasharAl Assad's horrific chemical weapons attack on innocent civilian men, women, and children," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.