Syrians hit by new ‘toxic gas attack’ as regime resume airstrikes on Douma

A pro-Syrian regime fighter takes a picture of a comrade on top of a tank as they prepare to advance toward the town of Douma, the last opposition holdout in Eastern Ghouta, on April 7, 2018. (AP)

• Regime airstrike resume on Douma to force rebels to surrender
• 'The Russians are making humiliating demands for Douma fighters', rebels spokesperson

At least 11 people were left struggling to breathe on Saturday after airstrikes on Syria’s rebel town of Douma, as rescuers alleged that toxic gases were used.
Syrian state media quickly denied that troops had deployed chemical weapons on Douma, the last opposition-held town in the battered Eastern Ghouta enclave.
Regime forces resumed a military blitz of Douma on Friday after an apparent breakdown in negotiations between regime backer Moscow and Jaish Al-Islam, the rebels that hold the town.
On Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said airstrikes on the northern edges of the town had left 11 people, including five children, “suffocating and suffering shortness of breath.” The White Helmets rescue forces said Douma had been hit with toxic gas.
“Cases of suffocation between the civilians in neighborhood in the city Douma after it was targeted by poison gas chlorine,” it wrote on its English-language Twitter account.
The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) also told AFP that medical staff they supported inside Douma had reported chlorine use.
“I spoke to one of the doctors inside the town, who told me... they received a number of wounded with symptoms from chlorine gas,” said SAMS advocacy director Mohammad Katoub, based in Turkey. Syria’s regime has been accused of using toxic gas including chlorine and sarin throughout the seven-year conflict.
Separately, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused France of abetting terrorists by “hosting them” at the Elysee Palace, amid a diplomatic row between the NATO allies over Paris’s support for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
On March 30 after President Emmanuel Macron met a Syrian delegation including the YPG and its political arm, the PYD, and gave assurances of French support to help stabilize northern Syria against Daesh.
Turkey also criticized the US for sending what it said were mixed messages on Syria, saying Washington was sowing confusion by equivocating about its future role in the country. “The president of the United States says ‘We’re going to get out of Syria very soon’ and then others say, ‘No, we are staying’,” Ibrahim Kalin said, referring to comments from Donald Trump and other officials.
“Obviously it does create a lot of confusion on the ground, as well as for us. We would like to see some clarity, for them to decide what is the next step, what is the ultimate goal there.”