Suspected chlorine attack in Aleppo kills three

Aleppo, Aug 12 (IANS) Three people including a woman and two children were killed and a dozen injured in a suspected chlorine gas attack in Aleppo -- one of several attacks reported since Syria gave up its weapons stockpile, a media report said.

The experts have warned that the frequent use of chemical weapons in Syria risks normalising war crimes, The Guardian reported on Thursday.

Syria officially agreed to give up its weapons stockpile following a 2013 sarin gas assault on a Damascus suburb.

The latest reports came as Russia offered to halt fighting for three hours a day to allow aid into besieged parts of the city, but the UN countered by saying it needed at least 48 hours a week to take convoys through heavily bombed and mined roads into eastern Aleppo, the report noted.

UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura said there was a lot of evidence that it a gas attack took place and it would constitute a war crime if chlorine gas was used, but he added that it was not his remit to verify the attack.

"If it did take place, it is a war crime and as such it would require everyone ... to address it immediately," he was quoted as saying.