Syrian activists say the Government has dropped barrel bombs filled with chlorine on civilians in Aleppo.

Rescue workers in the besieged rebel-held area east of Aleppo said regime helicopters dropped the chlorine bombs on the Sukkari neighbourhood.

Unverified footage posted by Syrian Civil Defence showed victims coughing and receiving treatment at a local hospital. It has been posted to YouTube – you can watch it here:

At least 80 people were said to need treatment.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said most of the victims were civilians.

A Sukkari resident told AFP a “very strong smell” filled the neighbourhood after it was hit by a barrel bomb and that he and others had difficulty breathing.

The Observatory also said rebel gunfire had killed five people in Azamiyeh, a Government-controlled area in Aleppo, while eight people including two children were killed in regime air strikes in the north-western province of Idlib.

Last month, for the first time, United Nations investigators told the UN Security Council they had proof the Government was responsible for two previous chemical attacks, one in 2014 and another in 2015.

Remains of what looks like a #Tochka ballistic missile that regime launched at #Sukkari district in #Aleppo. #Syria pic.twitter.com/VtLRy40PQa

— Maher Zainians (@MaherZains) September 6, 2016

But Syria’s ally Russia said it had “very serious questions” about the report while the Syrian envoy to the world body, Bashar Jaafari, rejected the findings.

Both sides in Syria’s complex war have traded accusations of attacks against civilians and use of unconventional weapons including chlorine and mustard gas.

https://twitter.com/MmaGreen/status/773167516772294657

Meanwhile, UN investigators said airstrikes by Russia and the Syrian Government were responsible for most of the civilian deaths in Syria in the first half of this year.

The UN’s Commission of Inquiry on Syria said there had been a surge in violence since a cessation of hostilities failed in March.

It said Russia and the Syrian Government have carried out indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks.

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The commission did not explicitly state it, but these are seen war crimes under international law.

It warned 600,000 people were now living under siege, most of them in rebel-held areas.

The commission also records attacks on civilian neighbourhoods by anti-government militias and said without a return to peace talks the violations would continue.

– ABC with agencies