36 affected in fresh chemical attack by terrorists in Syria's Aleppo

At least three dozen people have reportedly been affected after foreign-sponsored Takfiri terrorists launched a barrage of shells loaded with poisonous gas against two residential neighborhoods in Syria’s embattled northwestern city of Aleppo.

Syria’s official SANA news agency reported on Sunday that 35 people were suffering from suffocation after the shells rained down on the government-held Dahiyet al-Assad and Hamdaniyeh neighborhoods in Aleppo, which is some 355 kilometers north of the capital Damascus.

The victims were quickly transported to Aleppo University Hospital and al-Razi Hospital to receive treatment for sickness, shortness of breath, mydriasis, muscle spasms and numbness.

The head of Aleppo University Hospital, Ibrahim Hadid, later told state television that “36 people, including civilians and fighters, were wounded after inhaling toxic chlorine gas released by terrorists.”

On September 16, at least eight people, including five civilians, suffered breathing difficulties after Daesh terrorists fired mortar shells containing toxic gases at Harbal and Um Hosh towns north of Aleppo.

At least five people were also killed and a number of others affected on August 2, when artillery shells containing poisonous gases slammed into the Old City of Aleppo.

The Syrian government turned over its entire chemical stockpile under a deal negotiated by Russia and the United States back in 2013. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has overseen operations to remove the chemical arsenal from Syria.

The deal came after hundreds of people were killed in an August 2013 chemical attack in the Ghouta suburb of Damascus. 

According to reports, the rockets used in the assault were handmade and contained sarin.

While the Syrian government denied involvement in the deadly attack, it agreed to have its chemical stockpiles dismantled to eliminate any pretext for a possible US invasion.

'Militant rocket attacks against Aleppo appalling'

Meanwhile, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura has vehemently condemned the deadly rocket attacks by foreign-backed terrorists against civilian targets in the government-controlled western part of Aleppo.

“Credible reports... indicate that scores of civilians in west Aleppo have been killed, including several children, and hundreds wounded due to relentless and indiscriminate attacks from armed opposition groups," De Mistura said in a statement released on Sunday.

The statement added that the UN official is “appalled and shocked by the high number of rockets indiscriminately launched by armed opposition groups on civilian suburbs of western Aleppo in the last 48 hours.”

“Those who argue that this is meant to relieve the siege of eastern Aleppo should be reminded that nothing justifies the use of disproportionate and indiscriminate weapons, including heavy ones, on civilian areas and it could amount to war crimes,” De Mistura pointed out.

The foreign-sponsored conflict in Syria, which started in March 2011, has claimed the lives of more than 400,000 people, according to an estimate by the UN.

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