A child died and at least 13 other people suffered breathing difficulties after a suspected chemical attack on a besieged Syrian rebel enclave on Sunday.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 14 civilians had suffered breathing difficulties after a regime warplane struck the village of Al Shifuniyah in the Eastern Ghouta region in Damascus.
A woman was in a critical condition, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Observatory, which relies on sources in Syria for its reports.
Yaqub, a doctor who treated those affected, told AFP he suspected “chemical weapons, probably a chlorine gas attack”.
He said a three-year-old had died of asphyxiation.
"Most of the patients have chlorine odour ontheir clothes and their skin. Many have dyspnoea and skin and eye irritations," he said.
Rebels accused Damascus of using chlorine gas, but Moscow, a staunch ally of President Bashar Al Assad’s regime, accused his opponents of using “toxic substances” to make it appear that they had been used by regime forces.
Damascus, which has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons, has been accused of several chlorine gas attacks in recent weeks, including two in January in Eastern Ghouta, a rebel stronghold on the edge of the capital which has been battered by regime strikes since mid-February.
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Recent reports of regime chemical attacks have prompted France to warn of strikes in Syria, after similar remarks by an official in Washington.
The Observatory reported 21 cases of suffocation in Eastern Ghouta on January 22. Residents and medical sources said they suspected a chlorine attack.
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A member of the Syrian Civil Defense group carries a young man who was wounded during airstrikes and shelling by Syrian government forces, in Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, Syria. Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP -
Injured people receive medical attention inside a hospital after bombs fell on rebel-held Douma, Eastern Ghouta. Mohammed Badra / EPA -
Children cry in a hospital in the rebel-held town of Douma, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, following reported regime bombardment on the area on February 24, 2018. Hamza Al-Ajweh / AFP -
A Syrian girl looks at another crying child sitting on a hospital bed in a make-shift clinic in the rebel-held town of Douma, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, after they arrived to receive medical attention following reported regime bombardment on the area. Hamza Al-Ajweh / AFP -
The after effect of shelling on a steets of rebel-held Douma, Eastern Ghouta, 24 February 2018. Mohammed Badra / EPA -
American Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks after the United Nations Security Council voted on a resolution demanding a 30-day humanitarian cease-fire across Syria on Saturday, February 24, 2018 at United Nations headquarters. Craig Ruttle / AP Photo -
A demonstrator holds a flag and a doll during a Syria solidarity protest outside the Houses of Parliament, in central London. Paul Hackett / Reuters -
Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations Bashar al-Ja'afari (C) speaks after the vote on the resolution calling for a 30-day ceasefire for the purpose of allowing humanitarian aid to reach citizens in Syria at a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters in New York. Peter Foley / EPA
A similar attack targeted the outskirts of Douma on January 13, the monitor said.
The Syrian regime has denied possessing chemical weapons.
The reports came a day after the United Nations demanded a ceasefire to end one of the most ferocious assaults of Syria’s civil war.
Regime forces have been engaged in an assault on Eastern Ghouta since February 18, killing more than 500 people.
