A least 26 people were killed by a rocket blast in the Syrian city of Aleppo, according to a human rights group, while both the Assad regime and rebels are pointing fingers at each other for the attack.
"Sixteen Syrian regular army soldiers were killed in Khan al-Assal,'' Rami Abdelrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Reuters. "Ten more died in the hospital but I cannot confirm if they are civilians or soldiers.''
Syrian information minister Omran al-Zoubi said the rocket, fired from Nairab district in Aleppo into Khan al-Assal village on Tuesday, was a chemical weapon that contained "poisonous gases."
He added that the attack was the "first act" of the Syrian opposition interim government announced in Istanbul and claimed 86 people were wounded. He spoke to the pro-government Al-Ikhbariya TV station. Syria's state-run news agency, SANA, later said 25 were dead.
But rebels have denied the accusations and said regime forces were behind the attack.
"Fighting was raging in Khan al-Assal this morning and the regime's army hit the town with a long-range missile equipped with a chemical warhead," Louay al-Meqdad, a coordinator for the Free Syrian Army, told Reuters. "It also hit the area with conventional weapons from the air and with artillery.''
Britain also said use or proliferation of chemical weapons in Syria should warrant a serious response from the international community, Reuters reports.
Meanwhile, the Syrian opposition's newly elected interim prime minister has ruled out dialogue with President Bashar Assad's regime.
In a speech in Istanbul following his election Tuesday, Ghassan Hitto says "there is no place" for dialogue with the Assad.
He also said all members of the regime who have committed crimes will be tried.
Hitto added that the interim government will be headquartered in rebel-held territories in northern Syria and urged international recognition.
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