Syrian activists accuse government of chlorine gas attacks

A suspected chlorine-gas attack by Syrian government helicopters has killed a child and injured about 40 people in Syria, activists say, in the second attack on the north-western town in days.

Activists said that government helicopters used chemical warfare after dropping barrel bombs filled with chemical weapons in Saraqeb, in Idlib province, which is controlled by a coalition of opposition groups.

The claims follow reports of a similar helicopter barrage using barrel bombs on Wednesday, and comes a day after an international chemical-weapons watchdog said it was ready to investigate a series of recent chemical attacks.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists on the ground, reported citing medical officials in Nareb that a child was killed, although the cause of death was not clear.

The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, also reported the alleged chemical attack in Saraqeb.

Videos shared by the Syrian Civil Defence activist group showed medics and residents rushing children to a local hospital as they coughed, some gasping for air.

A video from Nareb, another town in the province where fighters supported by Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have made gains in recent days against troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, showed a medic receiving oxygen himself after rescuing people from another attack.

Last month, a closed-door meeting of representatives from the UN Security Council heard first-hand accounts from Syrian doctors of alleged chemical weapons attacks in March in the village of Sarmin, which is also in Idlib province.

The US, along with Britain and France, accuse Assad's government of using chlorine gas against civilians as his is the only force using helicopters, but Russia maintains there is no firm evidence that the government is responsible.

Rights group Amnesty International said the alleged chlorine gas attack in Sarmin was evidence of new war crimes by the Syrian government, and should be referred to the International Criminal Court "as a matter of urgency".

"These horrific attacks that resulted in civilians, including small children, suffering excruciating deaths, are yet more evidence that the Syrian government forces are committing war crimes with impunity," said Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa programme director at Amnesty International.