Syrian government helicopters 'drop chlorine' on Aleppo

Syrian government forces have been accused of dropping barrel bombs containing chlorine from helicopters on a suburb of Aleppo, injuring dozens.

Syrian activists and rescue workers in the rebel-held part of the contested city of Aleppo said that government warplanes dropped suspected chlorine bombs on Tuesday on a crowded neighborhood, injuring 80 people. Volunteer emergency workers said people suffered breathing difficulties after an attack on the Sukari area.

According to various news sources, the report could not be independently verified and it was not clear how it was determined that chlorine gas was released.

A medical report from one of the hospitals in the besieged eastern rebel-held part of Aleppo reportedly said that at least 71 people, including 37 children and 10 women, were treated for breathing difficulties, dry cough, and that their clothes smelled of chlorine. The report said 10 of the patients were in critical care, including a pregnant woman.

Ibrahem Alhaj, a Syrian Civil Defence rescue worker, said he had reached the scene of the Aleppo attack shortly after a helicopter dropped barrels containing what he said were four chlorine cylinders on Tuesday.

The group accused the government of another chlorine attack in August. A UN-led investigation that same month found the government had, in fact, used chlorine on at least two occasions.

Accusations involving use of chlorine and other poisonous gases are not uncommon in Syria’s civil war, and both sides have denied using them while blaming the other for using it as a weapon of war.

Chlorine is a common industrial chemical, but its use in weapons is banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention.