Story highlights "That air force is the cause of most of these civilian deaths," Clinton said

The former secretary of state advocated for a no-fly zone

(CNN) Hillary Clinton called on the United States to take out Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad's Air Force on Thursday, days after a chemical attack killed more than 70 people in the war-torn country.

"Assad has an air force, and that air force is the cause of most of these civilian deaths as we have seen over the years and as we saw again in the last few days," Clinton said in a speech at the "Women in the World" summit in New York City. "And I really believe that we should have and still should take out his air fields and prevent him from being able to use them to bomb innocent people and drop sarin gas on them."

The former secretary of state and Democratic presidential nominee against Trump in 2016 reiterated her support for a no-fly zone over Syria and more direct support for protesters.

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"I still believe we should have done a no-fly zone," she said, in a slight knock against former President Barack Obama, whose Cabinet she served in. "We should have been more willing to confront Assad."

US officials said Assad perpetrated the chemical attack this week that killed more than 70 people.

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