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UNICEF confirms death of 27 children in chemical attack in Syria

The World Health Organization said earlier that "at least 70 people have died and hundreds more have been affected"

UNITED NATIONS, April 6. /TASS/. At least 27 children were killed in the alleged chemical attack on the Syrian town of Khan Shaykhun, the Idlib Governorate, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNISEF) said in a statement on Thursday.

"At least 27 children were confirmed killed in the attack in Idlib, northwest of Syria... Another 546 people, among them many children, were injured. The death toll is expected to rise," the statement reads.

On April 4, Reuters cited the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights saying that an airstrike on Syrian’s town of Khan Shaykhun had killed 58 people including 11 children. Reuters alleged that the chemical attack could have been carried out by "Syrian government or Russian jets."

The World Health Organization said in a statement that "at least 70 people have died and hundreds more have been affected."

The Russian and Syrian militaries denied their involvement in the attack. Russia’s Defense Ministry later said that on April 4, the Syrian air force had delivered an airstrike on the eastern outskirts of Khan Shaykhun to destroy militant facilities used to produce chemical bombs. These bombs were sent to Iraq and were previously used in Aleppo.