The Syrian Civil Defence, a rescue workers’ group, claims government helicopters dropped barrel bombs on the Sukari neighbourhood, a rebel-held area of Aleppo, on Tuesday.
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The U.K. -based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 70 people were treated for choking symptoms.
A suspected “chlorine gas attack” in Aleppo yesterday has hospitalised dozens of people, including 37 children. Numerous videos and photographs that doctors, rescuers and witnesses shared online showed men, women and children being treated with oxygen. “Among the victims, 10 were critically injured, including a pregnant woman in her last trimester”.
“Volunteer emergency response worker from the Syria Civil Defence said he had reached the scene of the Aleppo attack on Tuesday shortly after a helicopter had dropped barrels containing what he said were four chlorine cylinders”, reports BBC.
The group accused the government of another chlorine attack in August. An UN led investigation in August found the government had used chlorine.
According to the statement, the OPCW is continuing its work on establishing facts of chemical weapons use in Syria and will present a report for consideration to the states which are parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Many of those injured are reportedly children and some victims were said to be in a critical condition.
The fighting in Aleppo underscored the severity of the civil war, which has claimed an estimated 400,000 lives over the past five years of the conflict, according to the United Nations special envoy for Syria. The videos could not be independently verified by CBS News, but they mirrored many similar videos posted online after previous attacks also allegedly using chlorine.
However the deal did not remove stocks of chlorine, a dual-use chemical which has industrial applications, but can also be used as a crude chemical weapon, delivered by improvised barrel bomb.
Syria’s army and its allies have regained control over the whole Ramousah district of Aleppo, a monitor and pro-government media reported on Thursday, building on an advance last week that reimposed a siege on rebel areas.
Thursday’s push tightens the government’s siege imposed on rebel-held parts of the city and endangers talks between Russian Federation and the United States for a possible Aleppo cease-fire.
Hashim al-Moussawi, a spokesman for the Iraqi Shi’ite militia Harakat al-Nujab, said its fighters would reinforce areas captured from the rebels in southern Aleppo.
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Aleppo has been hit by escalating violence since the collapse of a partial truce brokered by the United States and Russian Federation.
