Activists: Suspected chemical attacks in Syria injure 40

BEIRUT — Suspected chlorine gas attacks by Syrian government helicopters injured some 40 people and killed a child in the country’s northwest, activists said Saturday, a day after an international chemical weapons watchdog said it was ready to investigate a series of newly claimed attacks.

Videos shared by the Syrian Civil Defense activist group showed medics and residents rushing children to a local hospital as they coughed, some gasping for air in Saraqeb, a town in Idlib province. A video from Nareb, another town in the province where a coalition of insurgent groups has made gains in recent days against troops loyal to President Bashar Assad, showed a medic receiving oxygen himself after rescuing people from another attack.

The videos appeared genuine and corresponded to other Associated Press reporting about the attacks.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists on the ground, said the attacks overnight Friday injured at least 40 civilians, including children. The Observatory said medical officials in Nareb said a child was killed, though the cause of death was not clear. The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, also reported the suspected chemical attack in Saraqeb.

There was no mention of the attacks in Syrian state media.

Chlorine was first introduced as a chemical weapon in World War I with disastrous effects as gas masks were not widely available. While chlorine has many industrial and public uses, as a weapon it can choke victims to death.

Most nations banned its use in war in the Geneva Protocol of 1925. The U.S. and other countries have blamed Assad’s government of repeatedly of dropping chlorine from helicopters during the civil war, as no other force is flying them in the conflict. Forces loyal to Assad have blamed rebels for such attacks.

The suspected attacks come a day after The Associated Press obtained a report by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons saying a fact-finding team from the group is ready to look into multiple allegations of chlorine attacks in recent months. The Syrian government would need to approve the group’s visit.

Activists had reported a similar attack on Saraqeb on Wednesday.

The suspected chemical attacks come as government forces in Idlib province battle a joint insurgent campaign that has punctured the notion that Assad is on his way to defeating the four-year-old rebellion.

Meanwhile, Syrian rebels shelled government-held districts in the contested northern city of Aleppo on Saturday, killing 22 civilians and wounding 45 in an apparent retaliation for the killing of a leading rebel fighter a day earlier, Syrian state television reported.

The Observatory said rebel shelling on government-controlled areas killed at least 10 people, including three children. It said the numbers are likely to rise.

The discrepancy in casualty figures couldn’t be immediately reconciled but such differences are common in the immediate aftermath of attacks.

Aleppo, once Syria’s commercial hub, became a key front in the country’s civil war after rebels launched an offensive there in July 2012. The city has since been carved up into areas controlled by the government and others controlled by an array of rebel groups.

The shelling came after the killing Friday of prominent rebel leader Khaled Serag, known as Khaled Hayani, said Abu Riyad, an activist in Aleppo known by his nickname for fear of reprisal.

Riyad said Hayani was shot dead by a sniper. The Observatory confirmed Hayani was killed and said he was one of the first to fight against the Islamic State group when it moved into the area.

Also Saturday, the Observatory said at least 13 civilians, including six children, were killed when government aircraft struck the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, where the government is in fierce battles with Islamic State militants. The Local Coordination Committees reported seven civilian casualties in one location in Deir el-Zour.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.