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Dozens injured by shelling in Aleppo, Syrian state media reports Syrian state TV accuses rebels of gas attack on civilians in Aleppo
(about 4 hours later)
Insurgent shells wounded dozens of people in Syria’s Aleppo, causing choking, state media said on Saturday, while a monitor said government shelling killed nine people in rebel-held Idlib. At least 50 Syrian civilians are being treated following a suspected gas attack in the government-held city of Aleppo that state media has blamed on rebels.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the two women and seven children were killed in the village of Jarjanaz in Idlib province, where Russia and Turkey have agreed a buffer zone. Most of those admitted to hospitals on Saturday in the northern region of the war-torn country had breathing problems and blurred vision, doctors told state TV. One doctor said two were in critical condition, including a child. State TV showed footage of medical professionals treating men and women on hospital beds.
The UK-based observatory also said shelling on Aleppo city, which is under government control, wounded at least 32 people, including six children, causing breathing difficulties. There was a stench of gas in Aleppo after projectiles were fired, said Rami Abdurrahman, the head of Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
State news agency Sana, citing a health official, said militants hit two districts of Aleppo with shells containing gases that caused 50 people to choke. A witness outside al-Razi hospital in Aleppo said the shelling caused dozens of injuries, including to women and children. In Aleppo, the local governor Hussein Diab visited the injured at the hospital and told state TV that 41 people had been admitted. He accused rebels of using poisonous gas in the missiles they lobbed at the Aleppo neighbourhood of al-Khalidiya.
The deal to create the demilitarised zone staved off an army offensive against the Idlib region, including nearby parts of Aleppo and Hama provinces. Intermittent exchanges of fire have broken out in northwest Syria since the agreement between Russia, a key ally of Damascus, and Turkey, which backs some rebel factions. Health official Haj Taha later said the number of injured was up to 50, adding that symptoms suggested the gas used was chlorine. Further tests were needed, he said.
The United Nations says almost 3 million people live in the northwest region and has warned against a battle to restore state rule there. Among an array of factions controlling Idlib, the dominant force is Tahrir al-Sham, an Islamist alliance led by fighters formerly linked to al-Qaida. State TV later said government troops retaliated, hitting the source of the attack. It didn’t elaborate.
Earlier this month, Moscow accused insurgents of trying to wreck the deal, while rebels accused the Syrian army and its allies of attacking the region. Rebel commanders and opposition figures discredited the government reports, denying they lobbed gas into Aleppo.
The opposition didn’t have chemical weapons or the means to handle them, rebel commander Abdel-Salam Abdel-Razek said. On Twitter, he accused the government of staging the attack to frame the rebels. Rebel spokesman Musafa Sejari said the government was seeking to undermine the ceasefire.
Fighting is continuing in various parts of the country. In the north-west, a ceasefire in Aleppo and neighbouring Idlib has been fraying in recent days.
On Saturday, Syrian regime shelling killed nine civilians, including seven children, in Idlib province – the last major rebel bastion in the country. A teacher and four schoolchildren were among the victims after the shelling hit near a school, the Observatory said.
Meanwhile, in the eastern province of Deir ez-Zor, on the Iraqi border, counterattacks by the Islamic State group have killed at least 47 US-backed fighters over two days. The Observatory said the jihadists had launched “three separate assaults” on Saturday on Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
The fighting on Saturday alone killed 29 SDF fighters, according to the Observatory, while 39 IS fighters were killed over the same period.
Associated Press and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.
SyriaSyria
AleppoAleppo
Middle East and North AfricaMiddle East and North Africa
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