© YouTube / SANA News Agency
At least 50 residents of neighborhoods in Syria's Aleppo have been treated for symptoms of toxic gas poisoning after militants attacked the residential area with gas-filled munitions, Syrian media reported.
The Al-Khalidiye and Al Zahraa neighborhoods, as well as Nile Street, were targeted by rocket fire on Saturday evening, Syria's state SANA news agency reported.
The munitions used by the rebels were rigged with toxic gas, causing dozens of civilians to suffer from asphyxiation, the agency said.
The hazardous substance has been preliminarily identified as chlorine, according to medical officials.
The head of the health department of the Syrian city of Aleppo, Ziad Haj Taha, reported that 50 people were taken to two Aleppo hospitals after the shelling, noting that the number of the injured is likely to rise.
"Ambulance services continue to provide assistance to victims of poison gas use by terrorist groups, presumably chlorine," Taha told Russian Sputnik news agency.
Comment: This article from just a couple days ago may turn out to be relevant:
Are the French colluding with Nusra to stage chemical attack in Idlib? Sputnik received several reports from locals of a transfer of chlorine to militant groups in Idlib. Syrian Perspective provided a similar account before Sputnik published their version. The Russian reconciliation center offered a
similar account, too: "According to the Russian Defense Ministry, terrorists from the Turkistan Islamic Party have delivered at least 20 containers with 10 liters of chlorine each to Syria."
Aleppo's governor, Hussein Diyab,
pointed out that this "proves that the terrorists possess chemical weapons." And the Russian MoD
confirmed the use of chlorine:
"Groups from the observation posts of the radiation, chemical and biological protection units with special equipment stationed in Syria arrived to the area of shelling urgently. They work with the injured taken to medical institutions, monitor the situation in the area where the militants used poisonous substances," Konashenkov said.
The symptoms of those injured shows that most likely, the shells had been filled with chlorine, he added.
"According to preliminary confirmed data, in particular, by the symptoms of poisoned victims, the shells that were fired at residential areas of Aleppo had been filled with chlorine," the spokesman said.
"The Russian side intends to discuss this incident with the Turkish side as a guarantor of adherence to the cessation of hostilities by the armed opposition in Idlib de-escalation zone,"
Konashenkov said.
The number of injured is
now 73:
Medical aid was provided to 73 civilians, including four children, after militants' attack with poison-filled shells in the Syrian city of Aleppo, doctor of the emergency department of a hospital in Aleppo, Shervan Sheho, told journalists on Sunday.
"According to updated data, 73 civilians, including four children, were given medical aid after Aleppo shelling. All hospitalized people have difficulty breathing and their eyes were watering. In medicine, this is called a gas allergy," Sheho said.
One of the eyewitnesses of the shelling, Ahmet Mohammed, told reporters that the victims did not immediately feel the first signs of poisoning.
"My brother was at home, he heard that shells were falling, but he thought that nothing terrible had happened. However, after two hours his condition worsened, it became difficult for him to breathe, the ambulance took him to a hospital," he said.
A resident of Nile Street in Aleppo, Galia Ali said that she was given first aid at the hospital, after which she was able to return home.
"But then my daughter's condition worsened, and my family brought her to the hospital," the woman added.
Comment: With the litany of killings committed by US cops, one has to wonder just what they base their training and hiring policies on: