Assad regime drops chlorine bombs on Syrian city

By Halit Suleyman

IDLIB, Syria (AA) – A Syrian regime aircraft bombed the opposition-held city of Saraqib in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province with barrel bombs laced with chlorine gas late Monday, local medical sources have said.

“Ten people, including children, suffered temporary asphyxia from the attack,” a medical source told Anadolu Agency.

He said the victims suffered symptoms of chlorine exposure as vomiting and breathing difficulties.

In April, opposition negotiator Mohamed Alush accused the Syrian regime of carrying out 43 chemical attacks and 13 chlorine attacks in Syria.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the regime of Bashar al-Assad cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than a quarter of a million victims have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-battered country, according to the UN.

The Syrian Center for Policy Research, however, puts the death toll from the six-year conflict at more than 470,000 people.