Syria accused of chemical attacks

A human rights group accused the Syrian government on Monday 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 used witness interviews and video footage to document government helicopters carrying out the attacks in rebel-held eastern Aleppo that killed at least nine civilians, including four children, and injured around 200 people.

“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,” said Ole Solvang, the organization’s deputy emergencies director.

Human Rights Watch said the attacks were carried out between Nov. 17 and Dec. 13 — two days before President Bashar Assad’s forces took control of eastern Aleppo in a humiliating defeat for opposition fighters trying to oust the Syrian leader.

In five of the chemical attacks, the rights group said it reviewed photographs or video footage of remnants of chemical-filled improvised munitions posted online or shared with Human Rights Watch.