Rescuers and doctors in rebel-held Saraqib, a town in the northwestern Idlib province, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Aleppo, reported dozens of cases of severe breathing difficulties, saying the symptoms pointed to a chlorine gas attack.
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Barrels of toxic gas were dropped by a helicopter on a northern Syrian town just hours after a Russian helicopter was shot down by ground fire from nearby Aleppo on Monday, according to doctors and rescue groups on the ground.
More than 250 people died, and 900 were wounded in four terrorist attacks in the past week, he said.
“As far as we know from the information that has reached the defence ministry, those on board died, they died heroically”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.
It was not immediately clear who was responsible.
Russian Federation and the United States are nominally co-chairs of an worldwide effort to bring Assad’s regime to the negotiating table with armed opposition groups.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for shooting down the helicopter.
The Russian Defense Ministry also said that an aircraft of the Abakan Air, Russian aviation company, delivered 21 metric tons of humanitarian aid to Deir ez-Zor.
Jabhat Fateh al-Sham – formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra – was among those active in the province, and so-called Islamic State has vowed to carry out jihad against Russian forces.
Monitors at the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said barrel bombs fell on Saraqeb late on Monday, wounding many citizens.
SANA, the Syrian government’s official news agency, reported that at least seven civilians were killed by rebel-launched shells in Aleppo on Tuesday afternoon.
The clashes are part of an assault launched Sunday to try to ease a government siege of the rebel-held east of the city.
Russian Federation began an aerial campaign in support of Damascus last September, and has lost 18 forces since its intervention began.
The raids came after Russian General Sergei Rudskoi said that the Mi-8 helicopter had been shot down over territory controlled by members of a former Syrian al-Qaida affiliate and of the “moderate opposition”.
Opposition activists say intense fighting still ongoing in Aleppo.
Rebel spokesman Abdul-Salam Abdul-Razzek said there had been fierce fighting with government forces near al-Ramouseh, along a strategic government-controlled highway and artillery base south of Aleppo.
The siege has essentially cut the area off from vital supplies, and has left the city without enough food, water, medical supplies, and fuel to keep ambulances and hospital generators running.
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Evacuation of people from Aleppo is the first reported movement of people since Russian Federation announced a plan to open up safe passages on Thursday.
