Syria monitor says government forces kill six in gas attack

The Syrian government has previously denied accusations that it has used chemical weapons in the four-year-old war. A Syrian military source said he did not have any information about the alleged attack in the village of Sarmin in Idlib province.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the conflict, said the six dead included a man, his wife and their three children. It cited medical sources as saying that they died as a result of gas released from barrel bombs and that the chemical used was likely chlorine.

Dozens more people had been wounded in the attack, the Observatory said.

Reuters could not independently verify the report.

(Reporting by Oliver Holmes and Sylvia Westall; Editing by Hugh Lawson)