In a war already marked by humanitarian crises, the United Nations says the current fighting threatens to replicate deprivation recently suffered by those in rebel-held eastern districts of Aleppo among civilians living in the government-held west.
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De Mistura said the ceasefire issue had been discussed extensively at the weekly meeting of the UN-backed humanitarian taskforce for Syria and Russian Federation had voiced its willingness to expand the pause.
Found mistakes in this report? He added that if it did, it would be a war crime and it would require everyone to address it immediately. He said the first blast released a gas he identified by the smell as chlorine, but the wind was blowing in the other direction, lessening the odour.
“Young children are sometimes brought into our emergency rooms so badly injured that we have to prioritise those with better chances, or simply don’t have the equipment to help them”.
The UN is now investigating the attack but doctors who examined the four people that lost their lives, said it was due to chlorine.
Chlorine is a common industrial chemical, but its use in weapons is banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention.
A civilian breathes through an oxygen mask after a suspected gas attack.
The UN is pressing Russian Federation for a 48 hour halt to hostilities while promising to investigate what it describes as considerable evidence that Mr Assad’s forces last night committed a war crime.
It was not clear who was responsible.
“We have 28 confirmed cases, mostly women and children”.
Abdelkafi al-Hamdu, a resident of Aleppo, said he saw two air strikes from his in-laws’ balcony, about 30 yards away.
The northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s most populous before the war, is split into rebel and government-held districts.
Russian Federation has announced a daily halt to hostilities between 10:00 (07:00 GMT) and 13:00 from yesterday, to allow in aid.
“The road is so destroyed, it is mined, there are so many dangers, the logistics are so enormous, that we do need time each week, and we need 48 hours”, he said. The government siege essentially cut some 250,000 people off from basic food, medicine and fuel supplies that keep ambulances and hospital generators running.
“We will continue to use all available routes and mechanisms to do this, including cross-line and cross-border operations from Turkey”. But a resident of Aleppo told the BBC that there had not been a ceasefire on Thursday.
Doctors in the eastern half today implored US President Barack Obama to protect civilians from repeated atrocities in their city.
“We commend the bravery of medical professionals across Syria who are working every day in perilous circumstances with minimal supplies to save lives”, the official said.
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The Syrian government and opposition also accused each other of using chlorine last week in Aleppo, where intense fighting that could determine the course of the five year war is unfolding.
