Dozens dead in gas attack in Syria

BEIRUT, LEBANON (NEWS 1130) – Dozens of people have died in a rebel-held town near the capital of Syria in what, activists, rescuers and medics say, was a poison gas attack.

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, while the Syrian American Medical Society, a relief organization, says hundreds were wounded.

Opposition-linked first responders, known as the White Helmets, also reported the attack, saying entire families were found suffocated in their houses and shelters.

Russia’s military is rejecting claims that Syrian government forces used chemical weapons.

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.

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.

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