Red Crescent Says No Evidence of Chemical Attack in Syria’s Douma

The initial assessment of the US government suggests that a nerve agent was used in the weekend chemical attack in Douma, Syria, but further evidence is needed to determine what specific agent was used, USA government sources said on Monday.

Syria’s White Helmets, who are the first responders in rebel-held areas of Syria, said the attack late on Saturday involved “poisonous chlorine gas”.

Douma is the last remaining opposition-held town in Eastern Ghouta, once the rebels’ main bastion outside Damascus but now ravaged by a seven-week regime assault.

The Russian army had earlier accused Israel of carrying out deadly missile strikes on the central Syrian airbase of Tayfur from Lebanon before dawn on Monday.

SANA said the missile attack on the T4 military air base in Homs province resulted in a number of casualties but provided no specific figures.

The worldwide chemical weapons watchdog opened an investigation on Monday to determine whether dozens of people were gassed to death in an attack near the Syrian capital, possibly by a poisonous cocktail of sarin and chlorine.

The European Union’s External Action Service said that the evidence points towards yet another chemical attack by the regime. Although the agency said it was likely “an American aggression”, US officials said the United States had not launched any airstrikes on Syria. “Only ordinary war wounds”, he said. He said that he wasn’t asked for an opinion regarding the matter by the US President.

June 2014: The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons says it removed the last of Syria’s chemical weapons. Russia, with its unwavering support for the regime, ultimately bears responsibility for these brutal attacks, targeting of countless civilians, and the suffocation of Syria’s most vulnerable communities with chemical weapons.

Germany condemned on April 9 the use of chemical weapons in Douma and said the circumstances pointed to the regime of Assad being responsible for the attack.

One video shared by activists showed bodies of about a dozen children, women and men, some with foam at the mouth.

President Donald Trump is condemning what he calls a “mindless CHEMICAL attack” in Syria that has killed women and children.

Turkey and Russian Federation have been on opposing sides of the conflict in Syria, as Moscow is the chief ally of the Bashar al-Assad regime while Ankara backs rebels seeking to oust him. In exchange, the rebels would release all captives they are holding in Douma.

The Syrian government, in a statement posted on the state-run news agency SANA, denied the allegations. It called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting.

The possible chemical attack comes a year after Trump launched an assault on a Syrian air base after what US officials said was a chemical attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun. “We are ready, once Douma is freed from militants, to immediately send Russian specialists in radiation, chemical and biological defence to collect data that will confirm these claims are fabricated”, he said in comments reported by Russian news agencies. Douma was the only town left holding out. Assad has won back control of almost all of eastern Ghouta in a Russian-backed military campaign that began in February, leaving just Douma in rebel hands.