Chemical attack on Syria’s Idlib leaves eight killed, 40 injured

MENA

Published: 2018-02-05 13:19

Last Updated: 2024-03-27 21:33


The White Helmets teams evacuating people in hospital in Maaret al Numan after Russian airplanes attacked it. (TheWhiteHelmetsTwitter)
The White Helmets teams evacuating people in hospital in Maaret al Numan after Russian airplanes attacked it. (TheWhiteHelmetsTwitter)

At least eight people were killed and 40 injured during a chemical gas attack by the Assad regime targeted a residential area in Saraqib district on Sunday, according to the White Helmets, the Syrian Civil Defense.

“Foul smell after regime helicopters struck several areas of the town in Idlib province, causing five civilians to suffer from suffocation,” the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.

Toxic gas was believed to be chlorine used during the attack on Sunday night. It resulted in injuring eight people, including three members of the White Helmets.

The White Helmets shared videos showing choking survivors after the attack.

Meanwhile, several attacks were launched on opposition-held points by Assad regime forces, killing six civilians in the town of Kafr Nabi, near Maarat al-Numan in the southern countryside of Idlib province. Other four civilians were killed in regime bombing on Maaret al Numan and Maasarin.

Russian airplanes also hit the main hospital in Maaret al Numan causing damages, according to the SOHR.

The National Coalition of Syrian Opposition and Revolutionary Forces has called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to take emergency action to end the Russian and Syrian regime attacks on the northwestern city of Idlib, Anadolu News Agency reported.

They demanded the urgent interference of the UNSC to make decisions directly against Russia.

The conflict in Syria had killed more than 340,000 people since 2011, when people went to the streets in peaceful protests against strongman President Bashar Al Assad and his government regime.