22 Syrian rebels hit by ISIL chemical attack: Turkish Military

ISTANBUL – Agence France-Presse

Some 22 Ankara-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters were hit by a chemical gas attack by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants in northern Syria, the Turkish army said on Nov. 27.

“After a rocket was fired by Daesh [ISIL], 22 opposition members were observed to have been exposed in their eyes and bodies to chemical gas,” the general staff said in a statement, quoted by the state-run Anadolu Agency.

It said the attack happened in the area of the village of Khaliliya, east of Al Rai in northern Syria.

The affected Syrian fighters were brought over the frontier to the Turkish border town of Kilis by teams from Turkey’s AFAD emergencies agency.

The reports said the emergency workers were equipped with special chemical suits to protect themselves. The FSA fighters were brought to the main hospital of Kilis where they are currently undergoing treatment.

Television pictures showed some of the Syrians being transferred on stretchers to the hospital, with the emergency workers dressed in full-body white protective clothing and gas masks.