Syria chemical attack: Dozens choke to death, aid groups blame Assad govt
Dozens of Syrians choked to death after a suspected chemical attack struck the rebelheld suburb of Douma, east of Damascus, with aid groups on Sunday blaming President Bashar al-Assad’s government for the assault and Western governments expressing outrage.Rescue workers in Syria reported finding at least 42 people dead in their homes from apparent suffocation, and anti-government activists circulated videos of lifeless men, women and children sprawled out on floors and in stairwells, many with white foam coming from their mouths and nostrils. A stream of patients with burning eyes and breathing problems were rushed to clinics after the attack at dusk on Saturday, medical and rescue groups said.The attack appeared to break the will of Douma’s rebels, who agreed on Sunday to a deal with the government to hand the area over and be bused to another area outside government control in the country’s north. Thousands of fighters and tens of thousands of their relatives are expected to leave soon.
The latest atrocity in Syria’s agonizing seven-year civil war drew immediate condemnation from the United States and the European Union, but Mr Assad’s allies in Moscow and Tehran dismissed allegations of a chemical attack as “bogus.” The British Foreign Office called for an urgent investigation and said that if the use of chemical weapons proved to be true, “it is further proof of Assad’s brutality.”The United States government said it was working to verify whether chemical weapons had been used. A new, confirmed chemical attack in Syria would pose a dilemma for President Trump, who ordered military strikes on a Syrian air base after a chemical attack last year to punish Mr. Assad but has more recently said he wanted to get the United States out of Syria.In posts on Twitter on Sunday, Mr. Trump condemned the attack, blaming Iran and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia for supporting the Syrian government and warning of consequences. White House officials did not rule out a military response. Mr. Trump also took a jab at former President Barack Obama, who declined to respond militarily to evidence that the Syrian government had gassed its own people in 2013.“If President Obama had crossed his stated Red Line In The Sand, the Syrian disaster would have ended long ago! Animal Assad would have been history!” Mr. Trump tweeted. State news media in Syria denied that government forces had used chemical weapons and accused the Islamist rebel group that controls Douma, the Army of Islam, of fabricating the videos to solicit international support as defeat loomed.The Russian Foreign and Defense Ministries also denied that chemical weapons had been used. It was not possible to independently verify the reports because Douma is surrounded by Syrian government forces, which prevent access by journalists, aid workers and investigators.The attack occurred near the end of a monthslong push by the Syrian government to retake a group of towns east of Damascus known as Eastern Ghouta. The towns have been held by rebels seeking to topple Mr. Assad since the early years of the Syrian war, and the rebels have often shelled Damascus, killing civilians.The Syrian government and its allies — the Russian military and militias backed by Iran — have surrounded and bombarded the area, killing more than 1,600 people and forcing tens of thousands to flee, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict from Britain through contacts in Syria. Douma is the last remaining town in the area still controlled by rebels, and the Syrian government has vowed to retake it.A day earlier, after the government began a new offensive against the area, Hussein Mortada, a Lebanese reporter who supports the Syrian government, released a video of himself on a hill near Douma as columns of smoke from government attacks rose in the background.“These are appetizers,” he said. “The story is bigger than a ground invasion. There is something they will see today if the story continues. They will feel something very strong . . FOR MORE UPDATES
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