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Aid Workers Report Toxic Gas Attacks in Northern Syria

The Syrian army backed by Russian fighter jets pounded rebel positions in the city of Aleppo on Tuesday in a bid to crush a major insurgent campaign to break the siege of opposition-held parts the city, rebels said.

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The group, which describes itself as a neutral band of search-and-rescue volunteers, posted a video on YouTube apparently showing numerous men struggling to breathe and being given oxygen masks by people in civil-defense uniforms. “Health facilities must never be attacked or damaged, and health workers should be allowed to provide medical treatment and services to all people in need wherever they are inside Syria”.

“Medium-sized barrels fell containing toxic gasses”.

Rudskoi called the downing a terrorist act against Russian forces, which were deployed in Syria with the aim to help Syrian government fight terrorists.

Beirut-Shells fired by Syrian rebel groups killed at least 28 civilians in southwestern districts of the battleground city of Aleppo over the last 24 hours, a monitor said late Monday.

The Syrian government has not yet released a statement, according to Reuters, but Assad has denied previous charges of being involved in chemical attacks on the town.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebel assault was their biggest for several months.

In July, a Mi-25 attack helicopter was shot down near Palmyra, killing two Russian pilots.

A Russian military helicopter was shot down in Syria Monday after returning from delivering humanitarian aid to Aleppo, according to Russia’s defence ministry.

Another 133 chemical attacks were reported in addition to the 161 documented in the reported, but SAMS said the claims “could not be fully substantiated”. All five people onboard the helicopter were killed. The group did not claim that the bombs were chemical weapons.

United Nations investigators established that sarin gas was used in eastern Ghouta in 2013. It said that “activists accused regime forces of using explosive barrels which contained gasses”.

The SCD says there has been at least nine suspected chlorine gas attacks in the Idlib province, where Saraqeb is located, since the conflict began.

The strikes were aimed at slowing a “last-chance” assault by rebels seeking to break a government siege of the city.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry suggested Friday that the corridor approach could potentially be a “ruse”.

Violence has increased around Aleppo, including in neighboring provinces, since the government sealed off the final lifeline to rebel-controlled neighborhoods of the city.

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On Tuesday, Syrian state media said “dozens of families” had crossed from the east, after reporting similar crossings over the weekend.

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