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 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.
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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.
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.