Syrian Regime Accused of Chlorine Gas Attack

Rescue workers say 80 hurt in Aleppo
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 7, 2016 2:24 AM CDT
Updated Sep 7, 2016 5:52 AM CDT
Syrian Regime Accused of Chlorine Gas Attack
This photo provided by the Syrian anti-government activist group Aleppo Media Center shows Syrian civil defense workers inspecting damaged buildings after barrel bombs were dropped in Aleppo, Syria.   (Aleppo Media Center via AP)

The Syrian regime has once again been accused of using poison gas on civilians, this time in an attack on a rebel-held area of Aleppo. Reuters reports that the Syrian Civil Defense rescue group says barrel bombs containing chlorine gas were dropped on the shattered city's Sukkari neighborhood, causing at least 80 people to have severe breathing difficulties. Dozens of children are among the injured, and the rescue group has released disturbing footage showing some of them gasping and wheezing as they're given oxygen masks, CNN reports.

"Most of those injured were women and children," a first responder from the rescue group tells the AP. "It is a crowded neighborhood." He says a Syrian government helicopter dropped barrels containing four chlorine cylinders on the neighborhood, and he had to use a mask soaked in salt water to be able to breathe while assisting victims. The United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria is already investigating another suspected chlorine gas attack that occurred last month. "Unimaginable crimes are occurring in Aleppo," says Commission Chairman Paulo Pinheiro, per Reuters. "Pro-government aerial bombardments cause mass civilian casualties." (UN aid money ends up going through businesses owned by President Assad's cronies.)

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