The Syrian American Medical Society, which operates healthcare facilities throughout Syria, says at least two people were killed and as many as 150 people were injured – in Tuesday’s chlorine-laced bombing in the same area.
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There were at least two reports of possible chlorine attacks last month in Aleppo, according to the AP, which adds that Syria’s government has accused the opposition of using chlorine gas.
That means having a military council made up of both pro-government and opposition figures, and no wholesale purges, with punishment only for those directly responsible for crimes. The plan begins with a ceasefire, and HNC negotiators say they won’t accept any proposal that emerges from US-Russia talks if it deviates from their vision for a future Syria.
A recent United Nations report determined that both the government and Islamic State militants have used chemical weapons on several occasions.
If sustained, the advance in Ramousah would reverse almost all gains rebels made in a push last month, tighten a blockade over rebel-held eastern Aleppo and ease access for the army into government-held western districts through the city’s south.
Usually dropped from Syrian army helicopters, the low-priced munitions are believed to have killed thousands of people since the Syria conflict began more than five years ago. An agreement hinges on Russian Federation using its influence over Assad, and for Gulf states to convince opposition groups to take part.
Washington wants Syria’s air force grounded, leaving air strikes to USA and Russian jets that would focus on targeting Islamic State and other groups that were part of any ceasefire. It reported no deaths. In videos distributed by the Syrian Civil Defense, a group also known as the “White Helmets,” children and others are shown rushed in the arms of rescuers to the Basel Aslan hospital.
“I couldn’t speak to the camera without a mask”, he said.
The victims were struggling to breathe, coughing harshly, and they had the smell of chlorine on their clothes, the statement said.
The Civil Defense said on its Facebook page that 80 people had suffocated.
After recapturing al-Ramouseh, a southern suburb of Aleppo, the army has seized back all the territories lost to the rebels in August, and controlled the old road leading to the city of Aleppo, the source said on condition of anonymity. The government at the time said it targeted “terrorists”.
In a statement, the ministry said the attack showed the Syrian regime had disregarded the global community once again.
The use of chlorine as a weapon of war is banned under worldwide conventions.
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Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a chemical weapons expert who is an adviser to nongovernmental organizations in Syria and Iraq, said chlorine gas could be deadly, and was a powerful psychological weapon. At the time, Assad fended off a threatened U.S. bombing campaign only by agreeing to give up his arsenal of chemical weapons, later destroyed by the OPCW.
