Syrians injured following 'gas attack' in Aleppo province

Syrians injured following 'gas attack' in Aleppo province
Reports of a gas attack in Aleppo province have hospitalised a hundred people.
2 min read
25 November, 2018
Aleppo has been hit by an alleged chlorine gas attack [AFP]

Around 100 Syrians have been hospitalised from "breathing difficulties, after "toxic gas" hit a regime-held area of western Aleppo on Saturday night.

Syrian government media accused rebels of firing shells with chlorine gas at the regime-held town in Aleppo province, with the opposition denying the claims, alleging that the regime gas was accidently released in the area.

"We at the National Liberation Front (rebel group) deny the criminal, lying regime's allegations that revolutionaries targeted the city of Aleppo with any missiles and especially not any containing chlorine gas," it said.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance and the al-Qaeda-linked Hurras al-Deen group operate in the area, neither of whom have commented on the alleged attack.

State news agency SANA reported "107 cases of breathing difficulties" in an updated toll on Sunday, after two shells reportedly hit the areas in western Aleppo.

Government health official Ziad Hajj Taha said it was a "probable" chlorine attack.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 94 people were hospitalised in al-Khalidiye, but most had been discharged and the 31 cases that remained were not critical.

Russia accused Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militants of firing the chemicals at the town, at first claiming 12 were killed in the attack before lowering the death toll to zero.

Earlier this week, Russian and regime media said that rebels were preparing to launch gas attacks. Similar claims have taken place before regime chemical attacks on opposition areas.

Over the course of Syria's seven-year war, international human rights groups have repeatedly accused belligerents - especially the regime - of carrying out chemical attacks.

The conflict has killed more than 360,000 people and displaced millions, according to the Observatory.