The Latest: McCain: Trump move 'emboldened' Syria in attack
The Latest on the Syrian conflict (all times local):
11:15 p.m.
Sen. John McCain says President Donald Trump "emboldened" the Syrian government to commit a suspected chemical attack on its people by signaling last week that the U.S. planned to withdraw its troops from the country.
The Arizona Republican said Sunday that Syrian President Bashar Assad and his Russian and Iranian supporters heard Trump and, "emboldened by American inaction, Assad has reportedly launched another chemical attack against innocent men, women and children."
Opposition activists and rescuers say Saturday's attack in Douma killed at least 40 people. Assad's government has denied responsibility.
McCain says Trump "responded decisively" last year by targeting a Syrian air base with cruise missiles after a poison gas attack. McCain urged Trump to respond decisively again to "demonstrate that Assad will pay a price for his war crimes."
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11 p.m.
The United Nations Security Council is holding an emergency meeting to discuss a suspected chemical attack in Syria.
The meeting was called by the U.S., United Kingdom, France, Poland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Kuwait, Peru and the Ivory Coast. It will be held Monday.
Syrian opposition activists and rescuers say a poison gas attack Saturday in the rebel-held town of Douma near Damascus killed at least 40 people, with families found suffocated in their houses and shelters. Images released by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets show children lying on the ground motionless and foaming at the mouth.
U.S. President Donald Trump has blamed Syrian government forces for the attack. Syrian President Bashar Assad's government denied responsibility
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9:40 p.m.
The Russian military says that fighting in the rebel-held city of Douma has halted and a convoy of buses has moved in to evacuate the rebels and their families.
Maj. Gen. Yuri Yevtushenko, head of the Russian military's Reconciliation Center in Syria, said Sunday that the Russian military struck a deal with the Army of Islam group to withdraw some 8,000 of its fighters and about 40,000 of their family members. He said the convoy of 100 buses has entered Douma to begin the evacuation.
The deal follows an outbreak of fighting in Douma, the last remaining rebel foothold in the suburbs of Damascus.
Yevtushenko strongly denied the claim by local activists and first responders that Syrian government on Saturday launched a poison gas attack in Douma, calling them "yet another fake."
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9:15 p.m.
Turkey's president has condemned an attack on rebel-held Douma near the Syrian capital, where activists and rescue workers say the Syrian regime used a poison gas.
Speaking Sunday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said women and children were "martyred." He lashed out against Syrian President Bashar Assad's international allies as well as the "West," asking: "When will you turn round and look at these children, these women who are being killed in eastern Ghouta?"
Erdogan's top aide Ibrahim Kalin said Saturday's "chemical attacks" claimed the lives of at least 70 civilians. He said such attacks violated international law and called on the international community, "particularly countries with leverage over the Syrian regime," to act.
Turkey has been working with Russia and Iran—two powerful Assad allies—to bring an end to the seven-year civil war.
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7:50 p.m.
Iran's official IRNA news agency is reporting that the country's foreign ministry has condemned an alleged gas attack in the eastern suburbs of Damascus, saying that claims of the attack aimed to justify military action by the U.S.
The spokesman for the ministry, Bahram Ghasemi, was quoted in the Sunday report as saying, "Such claims and accusations by the Americans and some western countries is an indication of a new plot and excuse for military action against the Syrian government and nation."
He added that since the Syrian army now has the upper hand against "armed terrorists," the use of chemical weapons is not logical, according to the report, and that Syria has cooperated with U.N to abolish its entire chemical weapons arsenal.
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7:05 p.m.
The European Union says that following reports of another chemical attack in the Syrian war, evidence points toward the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The EU's statement Sunday did not provide details of the evidence to which it referred.
In the statement, the EU appealed to the allies of Assad, Russia and Iran, to "use their influence to prevent any further attack and ensure the cessation of hostilities and de-escalation of violence" as per a United Nations resolution.
"The protection of civilians must remain an absolute priority," the statement added.
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4:55 p.m.
Britain's foreign secretary says reports of a deadly chemical weapons attack in Syria are "deeply disturbing," and warns that Russia must not try to block an international investigation.
Boris Johnson says the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad have used poison gas in at least four attacks since 2014.
He says Britain backs an investigation by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and warns that Assad-supporting "Russia must not yet again try to obstruct these investigations."
He says "those responsible for the use of chemical weapons have lost all moral integrity and must be held to account."
Britain and Russia are enmeshed in a diplomatic feud over the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter with a nerve agent. Britain blames Russia for the use of a chemical weapon on U.K. soil. Russia denies responsibility.
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4:15 p.m.
Syrian state media says rebels have agreed to give up their last foothold in the eastern Ghouta region outside Damascus and withdraw to north Syria.
The SANA news agency says the Army of Islam group agreed Sunday to leave Douma, three days after the government resumed its assault on the besieged town. It says tens of buses have been sent to the town to pick up prisoners freed by the rebel group and to transport rebel fighters to opposition-held territory in north Syria.
The development comes hours after unconfirmed reports by first responders that the government had used chemical weapons against the town, asphyxiating at least 40 people.
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4:05 p.m.
Turkey's foreign ministry has condemned an attack on the rebel-held town of Douma near the Syrian capital, which activists say has killed at least 40 people.
In a statement Sunday, Turkey said there was "strong suspicion" that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons, killing civilians. The Syrian regime has denied the allegations.
The Turkish statement said Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime has "once again ignored" international agreements banning chemical weapons. It called on the international community to prevent, stop and punish such attacks, calling them an indiscriminate "crime against humanity."
Turkey has been critical of the Syrian regime since the start of the civil war, increasingly entrenched in the conflict there.
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1:40 p.m.
Syrian state media say rebels in Douma have asked to restart negotiations to stop the government's assault on the town, their last remaining stronghold in the eastern Ghouta suburbs of the capital.
State-affiliated al-Ikhbariya TV says the government has demanded Army of Islam rebels release prisoners and stop their shelling of Damascus as a precondition to restarting talks.
Al-Ikhbariya says government forces have granted a two-hour cease-fire to allow rebels to comply. It said the government met with a delegation of rebels on Sunday.
The Army of Islam was negotiating with Russia to evacuate its fighters from Douma, hand over its heavy weapons, release its prisoners, and allow the government to restore its authority over the town, amid a crippling government siege. Those talks collapsed on Friday, prompting the government to start shelling and bombing the town indiscriminately.
First responders say at least 40 people in Douma were killed late Saturday in suspicious circumstances. They allege the government mounted a poison gas attack. The government denied the accusations.
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1:10 p.m.
Russia's military is rejecting claims that Syrian government forces used chemical weapons in an attack on the rebel-held town of Douma.
Maj. Gen. Yuri Yevtushenko was quoted by Russian news agencies on Sunday as saying Russia was prepared to "promptly send Russian specialists in radiation, chemical and biological protection to Douma after its liberation from fighters to gather data that will confirm the fabricated nature of these statements."
Yevtushenko said "a number of Western countries" are trying to prevent the resumption of an operation to remove Army of Islam fighters from Douma and "to this end they are using the West's pet theme of the use of chemical weapons by Syrian forces."
Russia is a key ally of President Bashar Assad, whose forces have been accused of using chemical weapons in past attacks that killed hundreds of people. The Syrian government has denied ever using chemical weapons.
Opposition-linked Syrian medics and first responders say a chemical attack in Douma late Saturday killed at least 40 people. The reports could not be independently confirmed.
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9:30 a.m.
Syrian activists, rescuers and medics say a poison gas attack on a rebel-held town near the capital has killed at least 40 people.
The alleged attack in the town of Douma occurred Saturday night amid a resumed offensive by Syrian government forces after the collapse of a truce.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 80 people were killed in Douma Saturday, including around 40 who died from suffocation.
Opposition-linked first responders, known as the White Helmets, also reported the attack, saying entire families were found suffocated in their houses and shelters. It reported a death toll from suffocation of more than 40.
The Syrian American Medical Society, a relief organization, says 41 people were killed and hundreds wounded.
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