Alalam - Syria

22 Turkish-backed Syrian rebels were hit by an Islamic State (ISIS) gas attack in northern Syria, the Turkish army said Sunday, the first time Turkey has accused the terrorists of chemical warfare.

It said the attack happened in the area of the village of Khaliliya, east of Al Rai in northern Syria, where the pro-Ankara rebels backed by Turkish special forces and air power are battling to dislodge the terrorist from the border area. The report did not specify what type of gas was used.

Turkish media said the affected Syrian fighters were brought over the frontier to the Turkish border town of Kilis by teams from Turkey's AFAD emergencies agency then brought to the main hospital in Kilis where they are undergoing treatment.

The incident comes amid growing fears over the use of chemical weapons on five year Syrian civil war.

A joint UN and OPCW backed panel known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), found that the Islamic State group in Syria used mustard gas as a weapon in August 2015.

OPCW director general Ahmet Uzumcu told AFP earlier this month that IS may have itself anufactured mustard gas used in attacks in Syria and Iraq.

He said analysis of samples of mustard gas used was was "poor quality, but still harmful ... and it was weaponised so it's extremely worrying".

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