RUSSIAN military spokesman Lt Gen Sergei Rudskoi said last night that the Syrian army, backed by Russian air cover, had repelled a massive rebel attack meant to break the siege of Aleppo.
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At least 28 civilians have been killed and scores more wounded by militant shelling in Syria’s Aleppo over the last 24 hours, says a monitoring group.
Barrels of suspected chlorine gas have been dropped by helicopter on a town in northern Syria, rescuers have said.
“Five civilians were killed and eight others suffered suffocation due to a terrorist attack with shells containing poisonous gas”, the city’s health director Mohamad Hazouri told SANA. “The Syrian Civil Defence was not able to determine the type of the gas”, said the spokesman.
There was no immediate comment from the Syrian government or its Russian allies, who are battling rebels for control of the area in what observers describe as some of the fiercest fighting in months.
Another prominent rights group, Amnesty International, has accused Russian Federation and the Syrian government of “deliberately attacking health facilities in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law”.
The route used by regime forces and civilians living in government-controlled parts of Aleppo runs through Ramussa.
A Russian military transport helicopter was shot down Monday in the Syrian province of Idlib, killing the three crew members and two officers on board in the deadliest episode for the Russian military since it intervened in the country, Russian officials said.
The Mi-8 helicopter was shot down in Idlib province while returning to Hemeimeem air base on Syria’s coast after delivering humanitarian goods to Aleppo, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
No group has claimed responsibility for downing the helicopter.
By late Tuesday, there were conflicting reports about who launched the attack.
“This area is very close to the part of Idlib in which the Russian helicopter was downed yesterday”.
It said nine people, including three children, were killed on Monday and 11 people died in attacks on Sunday. Evidence of mustard gas use has also been found in Syria.
Rudskoi also said Russia fully supports the United Nations initiative on “improving the modalities of the Russia-Syrian humanitarian operation in Aleppo”.
The Russian intervention has enabled government forces to gain ground on several front lines, recapturing the desert city of Palmyra from Islamic State and imposing a siege on the rebel-held eastern sector of Aleppo.
The UN estimates that 200,000 to 300,000 people may still be trapped in the rebel section of Aleppo with dwindling food and medical supplies.
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Violence has increased around Aleppo, including in neighboring provinces, since the government sealed off the final lifeline to rebel-controlled neighborhoods of the city.
