Rebels shell Syrian Army with poison gas in Aleppo, scores injured – military
Militants used shells containing poison chlorine gas to attack Syrian military positions in Aleppo on Sunday, injuring scores of government troops, according to the Syrian Army.
In a statement Monday, the General Command of the Syrian Army and Armed Forces confirmed that terrorist groups located in the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo targeted the al-Nairab area and its surroundings with mortar shells containing chlorine on Sunday evening, SANA news agency reported.
Scores of civilians and military personnel were injured, the military said.
Citing sources on the ground, RT Arabic reported that at least 28 government troops were injured. Local media gave the same figures for those injured.
RT’s Murad Gazdiev, reporting from Aleppo, said that after contacting hospitals, the number of soldiers injured in the attack may be as high as 44. “We don’t know exactly how many of them had died or how many are merely sick,” he added.
In a statement the Russian Ministry of Defense said that "around 30" troops had been affected by the attack, which originated from an improvised Hellfire launcher.
The attack is the third instance of terrorists using chemical weapons in Aleppo in the space of just two weeks.
Previously, gas was used on October 30, when one person was killed and 40 injured. A second incident took place on November 3.
Earlier this week, experts from the Russian Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Forces’ research center found evidence of Aleppo militants using chlorine and white phosphorus.
Following the discovery, Russia’s Defense Ministry addressed the UN’s Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, asking it to send a mission to Aleppo.Both Russian and Syrian authorities repeatedly warned that militants from some hardline groups might use chemical weapons against civilians and government forces in the city.
The West have pointed the finger at Damascus and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) for using chemical weapons, but not militants in Aleppo, who are labeled the ‘moderate opposition’ by the US and its allies.
Russian and Syrian aviation have halted its air strikes in Aleppo, which remains split between the Syrian government forces and the terrorists, on October 18, and have been regularly organizing 10-hour “humanitarian pauses” in the city.
