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At least 50 civilians were treated Saturday following an alleged poison gas attack by Syrian rebel groups in the government-controlled city of Aleppo in the north of the country, according to reports. published in the Syrian media.
Most of those admitted to the hospital had breathing problems and blurred vision, doctors said on public television. One doctor said that two were in critical condition, including one child. The state television showed images of health professionals treating men and women on hospital beds.
The city of Aleppo was covered with a smell of gas after firing projectiles, said Rami Abdurrahman, chairman of the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights based in Britain.
Rebel leaders and opposition figures have rejected government reports, denying that they have thrown gasoline at Aleppo and accusing Damascus of seeking to undermine the ceasefire and killings. efforts to revive political discussions. Earlier Saturday, the government bombed at least seven civilians in the bombing of a rebel-controlled neighborhood in the neighboring province of Idlib.
In Aleppo, local governor Hussein Diab visited the wounded at the hospital. He told state television that 41 people had been admitted and accused the rebels of using poison gas in the missiles launched against them in the Aleppo neighborhood.
Increasing toll
Health official Haj Taha later said the number of wounded was 50, adding that the symptoms suggested that the gas used was chlorine. Additional tests are needed, he said.
The projectiles landed in the neighborhood of al-Khalidiya and the wind caused a spread of gas, said Aleppo police chief, Essam al-Shali, on state television. . State television later said the gas had affected two other areas of the city. There are no deaths, said Al-Shali.
One patient said that a foul odor had invaded the air after launching the projectiles.
"There are often missiles on the city, but it's the first time we smell such an odor," said the patient without giving his name.
State television eventually said that government troops had fired back, hitting the source of the attack. This has not been developed.
A ceasefire in Aleppo and Idlib has been frayed in recent days. Aleppo has been the target of rebel attacks in recent weeks. Missiles fell inside the city. The government responded with counterattacks against rebel-held areas in the Aleppo campaign.
Earlier Saturday, aid workers and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced that government shells had landed in Jarjanaz, a rebel-held town in Idlib province, striking students while they were leaving their school. The bombings killed eight people, including six children, according to the Civil Defense team in the area controlled by the opposition.
Opposition fighters have neither chemical weapons nor means to use them, said rebel leader Abdel-Salam Abdel-Razek. On Twitter, he accused the government of organizing the attack against the rebels.
Musafa Sejari, spokesman for the rebels, said the government was seeking to undermine the ceasefire agreement.
Mutual charges
In the absence of independent monitors, it is difficult to corroborate the details of the gas attacks. But both sides of the conflict have accused themselves throughout the war of using poison gas.
A joint team of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons accused the Syrian government of using chlorine gas during at least two attacks in 2014 and 2015, and the neurotoxic sarin during an attack in April 2017 in the city of Khan Sheikhoun. who killed about 100 people. The United States has launched a series of strikes on Syrian government sites in retaliation for Khan Sheikhoun's attack.
The UN-OPCW team also accused the extremist group "Islamic State" of using mustard gas twice in 2015 and 2016.
The government accused rebels of using gas during an attack in 2013 against Khan al-Assal, a village in southwestern Aleppo, which claimed the lives of 25 people .
