DAMASCUS, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Syria's al-Ekhbaria TV aired footage of the aftermath of a chemical weapon attack by the rebel forces that targeted a town in Aleppo province earlier in the day and killed at least 26 people.
The TV camera panned between different rooms of a hospital where tens of wounded people laid on beds with oxygen masks covering their faces, while doctors and nurses dressed in medical scrubs examining the injured.
A patient appeared unconscious with white liquid trickling out of his mouth and nose.
The footage also showed a kid seemingly traumatized from the incident.
The Syrian government accused armed groups of firing a rocket stuffed with chemicals at the Khan al-Asal town in southwest of the northern province of Aleppo. However, the rebels denied responsibility.
Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi slammed the move as "dangerous escalation."
Such move mirrors the shift in using the arms that are being sent through neighboring countries to the opposition fighters, the state-run SANA news agency quoted Zoubi as saying.
"In today's crime, the terrorists have used an internationally- prohibited weapon," Zoubi said, reiterating that the attack is the first achievement of the would-be interim government by the opposition.
He said the rocket had been fired from Aleppo rebellious area of al-Nairab.
The minister held the international community and the countries supporting the rebels responsible for the attack, mainly naming the governments of Turkey and Qatar. He also stressed that the situation on ground and the morale of the Syrian army is good.
The incident has been condemned by Iran and Russia, Syria's main allies.
Khan al-Asal town, southwestern outskirts of Aleppo, has been a scene of intense fighting between the government troops and rebel fighters in a bid to storm the town due to its strategic importance.
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