Activists in Aleppo said that Russian jets bombed the town of Huraytan with missiles filled with the toxic chlorine gas on Friday, without reports of casualties.
At least 11 civilians, mostly children, were killed when the Assad regime’s air force shortly afterwards struck the town with thermobaric bombs.
Director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights Fadel Abdul Ghani confirmed that a helicopter belonging to regime forces dropped a barrel bomb containing the toxic chlorine gas on the neighborhood of Alzibdiya in eastern Aleppo late on Wednesday.
Three civilians were killed in the attack while over 20 others suffered difficulty breathing as a result of the chlorine attack.
Alsharq Alawsat newspaper cited a medical source in Aleppo as saying the toxic chlorine gas was used in the attack on Alzibdiya in Aleppo. The source confirmed that three civilians, a child, a woman and a young man were killed in the attack that was carried out by a helicopter belonging to regime forces.
The Syrian Coalition called upon the UN Security Council to shoulder its responsibilities towards stopping such attacks. It stressed that urgent measures must be taken under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations to protect the Syrian people.
“Any further delay in taking a firm stance towards such attacks will open the door to more crimes and violations by the Assad regime,” the Coalition said.
The UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said there is “a lot of evidence” that a chlorine attack did take place, adding that it would be classed as a war crime if verified. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Al-Sharq Alawsat)
