Rights Group accuses Syria of 8 chemical attacks in Aleppo

UNITED NATIONS – A human rights group is accusing the Syrian government of conducting at least eight chemical attacks using chlorine gas on opposition-controlled residential areas during the final months in the battle for Aleppo.

Human Rights Watch said in a report released Monday that it documented government helicopters carrying out the attacks that killed at least nine civilians, including four children, and injured around 200 people.

The human rights group says the attacks took place in areas where government forces were planning to advance.

Ole Solvang is the organization’s deputy emergencies director. He says: “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.”

The Syrian government has previously denied any chemical attacks.