Syrian activists and a doctor have reported a new suspected chemical attacks in the northwestern province of Idlib, leaving several dozens of people suffering from asphyxiation.
Mohammed Tennari, a doctor who testified before the UN Security Council last month after treating a number of victims in Idlib from an earlier chemical attack, said there were at least three separate attacks in the province that injured nearly 80 people.
Tennari, who spoke with The Associated Press from near the border with Turkey, shared field reports from doctors in the three villages that were reportedly hit.
The reports said government helicopters dropped barrel bombs containing chlorine on the villages of Janoudieh, Kansafrah, and Kafr Batiekh on Thursday.
Tennari is on his way back from the US where he reported to the council on a suspected chlorine attack in March that killed three children and their grandmother in the same province.
He is the co-ordinator for the Syrian American Medical Society, which has volunteer medical personnel treating victims and reporting on attacks in Syria.
Also, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, another monitoring group which is based outside the country, reported the three different attacks, sharing on Twitter images it said were from field hospitals where victims were taken.
The group reported that 69 people were injured in the attacks.
The reports could not be independently verified.
There has been an increase in reports of suspected chlorine bombs amid intensified fighting in the province where the rebels have made significant advances against government troops in recent weeks.
Even though the Security Council, badly divided on Syria, came together in 2013 to rid Syria of its chemical weapons program, chlorine was not included in that effort.
The chemical does not have to be declared because it is also used for regular purposes in industry.
Chlorine is a poisonous chemical element used as a bleaching agent and for water purification, but in more concentrated form can cause victims to suffocate.
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