Civilians hurt in poison gas attack

DAMASCUS: At least 50 civilians are being treated after a suspected poison gas attack by Syrian rebel groups on the governmentheld Aleppo city in the country’s north, according to reports in Syrian state media.

Most of those admitted to hospitals had breathing problems and blurred vision, doctors told state TV. One doctor said yesterday two were in critical condition, including a child.

There was a stench of gas in Aleppo city after projectiles were fired, said Rami Abdurrahman, the head of Britainbased Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Rebel commanders and opposition figures discredited the government reports, denying they lobbed gas into Aleppo and accusing Damascus of seeking to undermine an existing ceasefire and efforts to kickstart political talks. Earlier yesterday, government shelling of a rebelheld area in neighbouring Idlib province killed at least nine civilians.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the two women and seven children were killed in Jarjanaz village in Idlib province, where Russia and Turkey have agreed a buffer zone.

In Aleppo city, local governor Hussein Diab visited the injured at the hospital. He accused rebels of using poisonous gas in the missiles they lobbed at the Aleppo neighbourhood.

A ceasefire in Aleppo and Idlib has been fraying in recent days. Aleppo has come under rebel attack in recent weeks, with missiles falling inside the city. The Government has responded with counterattacks on rebelheld areas in the Aleppo countryside. —AP