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ALEPPO, Syria – Alleging that Syrian rebels carried out a chemical weapons attack in the government-held Aleppo city on Sunday that left over 100 people seriously injured, Russia carried out airstrikes targeted rebels.

On Sunday, the British monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights confirmed a gas attack in Aleppo.

Further, Syria’s State News Agency SANA said that 107 people had suffered injuries, including several children. 

SANA alleged in its report that militants launched projectiles containing noxious gases on three districts, which caused choking and other problems. 

The report quoted Aleppo’s Police Chief Issam al-Shilli as saying, “The explosive (shells) contain toxic gases that led to choking among civilians.”

Further, health officials in Aleppo and war monitoring groups confirmed that shells spread a strong stench and caused breathing problems, impacting over 100 people. 

According to medical progressional in the government-held city, victims had suffered breathing problems, eye inflammation and symptoms suggested the use of chlorine gas. 

Zaher Batal, who heads the Aleppo Doctors Syndicate said in a statement, “We cannot know the kinds of gases but we suspected chlorine and treated patients on this basis because of the symptoms.”

Batal pointed out that this was the first gas attack against civilians in the city since the Syrian civil war started seven years back.

Later on Sunday, the Russian and Turkish Defence Ministries said that “recent provocations” were aimed at harming the agreement on Idlib.

According to the Turkish Defence Ministry, “There was an exchange of views to the effect that … they could continue and that one needed to be ready for them.”

Russia’s Defence Ministry alleged blamed the poison gas attack in Aleppo on rebel groups in Idlib.

However, despite allegations by Syria and its closest ally Russia, officials from Syrian rebel groups claimed that their forces did not possess chemical weapons and denied the attack.

An official from the Nour el-Din al-Zinki insurgent faction, Abdel-Salam Abdel-Razak said that rebels did not own chemical weapons or have the capacity to produce them.

Further, a spokesman for the Failaq al-Sham Abu Omar accused the Syrian government of trying to create “a malicious charade” as a pretext to attack rebel towns.

Yet, Sunday’s attack marked the highest casualty toll from a gas attack in Aleppo since government forces claimed back the city from rebels two years back, with help from allies.

The Aleppo attack also triggered calls by the Syrian Foreign Ministry, which urged the UN Security Council to punish the attackers.

Further, Iran’s Foreign Ministry denounced the chemical attack on civilians in Aleppo, blaming them on “terrorists.”

Describing the incident as “inhumane and despicable,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi issued a statement expressing deep regret and concern over the chemical attack in Aleppo.

Qassemi said, “The cause of such an inhumane act by terrorist groups is the unflinching intellectual, political, financial and military support provided by some regional and trans-regional states for these groups, which are on the brink of annihilation.”

Russia strikes back

Following the attack, Russian warplanes targeted militants in the rebel stronghold of Idlib.

According to the Russian Major-General Igor Konashenkov, Moscow sent an advance warning to Ankara, which backs certain rebel factions.

The Russian military spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said, “The planes of Russia’s Aerospace Defense Forces carried out strikes on the detected artillery positions of terrorists in the area, from where the shelling of Aleppo civilians with chemical munitions was conducted late Saturday.”

Turkey was specifically informed before the Russian airstrikes on rebels since the country helped broker a ceasefire in Idlib on September 17 this year.

Russia and Turkey agreed to a buffer zone in northwest Syria and since the demilitarized zone was agreed on, this was the first time that airstrikes targeted rebel territory in the region.