The news agency Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing representatives of Syrian opposition forces that on the night after a Russian Mil Mi-8 helicopter was shot down, some helicopter allegedly dropped containers with toxic gas on a township near the place of the disaster.
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REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah Rebel fighters and civilians inspect the wreckage of a Russian helicopter that had been shot down in the north of Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province, Syria August 1, 2016.
A statement from the group claims, “after shelling, besieging and killing civilians and perpetrating war crimes on them, the Assad regime has resorted once again, and in breach of United Nations resolutions 2118 and 2235, to using chemical substances and toxic gasses”. “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”.
A spokesperson for the Syria Civil Defense alleges that several medium-sized barrels were dropped from a helicopter.
One person helping the purported victims was wearing a jacket bearing the Syrian Civil Defence logo.
The Syrian government and its Russian allies were not immediately available for comment. So far, no person or body has claimed responsibility for this shooting, and Russian Federation has not pointed out who might be responsible for it. This group of Syrian rebels called the Jaish al-Fateh or Army of Conquest, have taken most of Idlib from Assad’s government forces.
At least 6,000 people have been either killed or injured in that time, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.
“The helicopter of the Russian Aerospace Forces was shot down over the territory being controlled by the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group (banned in Russia) and the so-called “moderate opposition forces” associated with it”.
The gas attack occurred hours after Syrian rebels downed a Russian helicopter near Saraqeb on Monday, killing three crew members and two officers who were on board.
Syria’s conflict has killed more than 280,000 people and drawn in world powers on both sides since it erupted in March 2011.
The Syrian regime’s key ally Russian Federation launched heavy air strikes overnight on the outskirts of divided Aleppo city, slowing a “last-chance” assault by rebels seeking to break a government siege.
Chlorine is a common industrial chemical, but its use in weapons is banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention.
The Kremlin said all five personnel had died.
Despite persistent Western accusations that Moscow is abetting Assad in a brutal crackdown on his own people, Russian President Vladimir Putin has presented the Syrian operation as a success in the fight against Islamist terrorism.
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In April an attack helicopter crashed in the region of Homs but the Defense Ministry insists it was not shot down.
