Rights group accuses Syria of fresh chemical attacks

NEW YORK (AA) - Syria's Bashar al-Assad regime carried out "coordinated chemical attacks" in opposition-held parts of Aleppo during the final month of the battle for the city, Human Rights Watch (HRW) charged Monday.

"Through phone and in-person interviews with witnesses and analysis of video footage, photographs, and posts on social media, Human Rights Watch documented government helicopters dropping chlorine in residential areas on at least eight occasions between November 17 and December 13, 2016," the rights group said in a report.

The attacks, some of which included multiple munitions, killed at least nine civilians, including four children, and injured nearly 200, it added.

“The pattern of the chlorine attacks shows that they were coordinated with the overall military strategy for retaking Aleppo, not the work of a few rogue elements,” Ole Solvang, deputy emergencies director at Human Rights Watch, said in the report. “The United Nations Security Council shouldn’t let Syrian authorities or anyone else who has used chemical weapons get away without consequences.”

A UN-appointed investigation found last year that there were uses of chemical weapons by the regime and by opposition fighters in 2014 and 2015. However, no actionable steps were taken.

Chlorine gas is one of several elements and compounds used in devastating chemical attacks, outlawed by international treaties. High level of exposure to the gas can cause suffocation as the chemical injuries in the pulmonary airways result in severe fluid buildup in the lungs, with children and seniors particularly vulnerable.

The HRW report quoted one unnamed local resident as saying: "The smell isn’t something you can handle. The moment you’re exposed to it, your throat burns, it’s like a fire rod going in. It won’t let you swallow or breathe. Your neck starts boiling. You feel nauseated. Your eyes burn and you are not able to control the tears. Eventually, you are not able to breathe. It’s not like having your nose and mouth blocked, rather, your body won’t let the air in anymore."

The war for Aleppo was all but over in late December last year when Russia and Turkey helped broker a cease-fire deal that included the evacuation of thousands of civilians and opposition fighters from the city.

The six-year Syrian war has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and displaced millions of people, leaving the country in ruins.