it's turning right damascus itself every day every week some training to damascus why not take advantage for this time and to let a big offensive i guess to solve a little right to to push away the letters around from the let's move the discussion forward now because with all of this happening across syria the united nations has said it's investigating reports of another chemical weapons attack in rebel held areas seen. the u.s. has accused the syrian government of continuing to use these types of weapons bombs suspected of containing careen where reportedly dropped in duma in eastern town thursday and this was followed by another attack later in the town of said i can be neatly province activists video appears to show people being treated for suffocation and if our smell was reported the syrian government denies it was behind these attacks joshua landis donald trump last year when there was another chemical weapons attack in syria launch as strikes there was a targeted strike in response to two that as strike at to the chemical weapons attack use at the time and many have seen as a key

well there are around four hundred thousand trapped in the damascus suburbs. and ambulances waited. crossing point. to go in and evacuate people moscow and the mosque this have accused rebels of shelling the corridor to prevent people leaving rebels than i'd say that people will not leave because they fear that. the people of syria face a direct humanitarian crisis u.n. security council resolution two four zero one has established a framework for all parties to agree upon conditions to elevate the plight of civilians throughout the country russia together with the syrian government have already announced the establishment of humanitarian corridors in east now it is the turn of the militants and their sponsors to act the militants entrenched there continue the shelling of damascus blocking a delivery is and the evacuation of those wishing to leave well this was contradicted by the russian president vladimir putin he says russia managed to get quite a big group of civilians out of some a binge of itis following the story of that. sources on the ground have not confirmed this large num

on the outskirts of damascus it's been on the heavy bombardment by the government and its allies including russia at least five hundred people have been killed just in the past week let's get a better idea of the area we're talking about encompasses the eastern suburbs of damascus revolution. that can reach the center of damascus a victory there as a big government priority to rebel groups hostile to each other control different sections of the enclave along with several smaller groups government forces have tried to enter by using the homs to damascus highway and also at. now he's joining us live from the turkish city of near the border with syria so what's the latest that you're hearing about the offensive and the resistance to it . what is the most intense fighting that we've seen on the ground in eastern. in the last seven days we've heard reports of clashes on the outskirts of but this is the first time that the syrian government and its troops made a move to words taking. on multiple fronts we've been hearing reports on the ground where fighters belonging to. one of the other which i

this new move by damascus in a could mean it's. directly confronts turkish troops turkey's foreign minister was defiant you know certainly. if the regime is interested to clean. up he whitey and there are no problems however if i come in to defend the white p.g. the nothing and nobody can stop us this applies to efren as well as ma'am and to the east of the euphrates river the developments hence said behind the scenes negotiations the details of which are unclear if the kurds are going to accept the major conditions of the syrian regime will decide on that very heavy weapons. or will they be exiting the city because the syrian regime is. democratic forces to exit the city. of to the east of the euphrates the kurdish why p.g. holds the areas in yellow which include the region of the green areas land controlled by the syrian opposition supported by turkey and they are advancing on africa and under the turkish operation olive branch president assad's government controls the area to the south and the i.p.g. is territory to the east of

and their russian allies jets also targeted the rebel enclave of eastern the coltan the the capital damascus government forces have besieged the area for five years four hundred thousand syrians trapped there. another bombing by russian jets in italy provinces supporting a major offensive by syrian government forces it's aimed at recapturing a strategically important road between the cities of aleppo and damascus troops have been fighting opposition groups for weeks there moving northwest trying to cut off rebel supply line the road between the lapper and damascus connects some of the few remaining opposition held areas of syria. joining me now here in the studio director of policy analysis at the doha institute good to have you with us so how important is it in this battle to secure that road between damascus and aleppo i think it's very important very important for the for the government they have been trying actually to do that for the boss few weeks and. i would it mean for them if they control because that would actually open their major road actually between damascus and aleppo or. the

was killed by shells from a launched from go town damascus. by the moderate rebels similar these deadwyler have no right are not entitled to media compassion ho they are on the wrong side of history. and then he concludes by stating when when will there be a balance on your fantasy. so this is a french citizen that says that truly describes the suffering of the people in damascus as a result of the terrorist launching missiles from i'll go into what i love. by the way mr terry visited aleppo in two thousand and seventeen and the guns of the free syrian army in a bag then and then again you fired rockets in the airport when he was leaving aleppo thank god he wasn't affected but since then we only put airport remains closed. this airport has not been safe since then and this is why it was closed. the head of the syrian red crescent in it lived at the door with dr mohammad and with that was kidnapped. more to do with it by moderates armed ok groups. and. my colleague the permit representative of france said. you people that we must observe a truc

gas by syria the syrian regime to terrorize innocent civilians in the east good of syria outside of damascus if confirmed the attack is the third reported instance in the past thirty days in east ghouta we take the allegations of chemical weapons use very seriously and are working with our partners on the ground to investigate the reports so beyond raising public awareness about the security situation inside syria the trumpet ministration is trying to see if they can somehow come up with a new way of verifying that the syrian government still does possess chemical weapons there had been an organization known as the joint investigative mechanism which should have been renewed according to the u.s. at the end of december so that it could continue its work trying to clarify what syria is doing and what it's not doing in terms of using chemical weapons russia which is serious close down. took action and said no we don't want to reauthorize this body so now u.s. officials are trying to figure out if there's a new way of standing up a group that can try to not only gather the evidence of what syri

just with that connection there apologize to our viewers speaking there to move house from damascus now a spokesperson for south africa's ruling a.n.c. party says it's no closer to deciding on whether to remove president jacob zuma it follows that emergency meeting cold to discuss his fate well earlier scuffles broke out between rival factions of the and c. at the party's headquarters in childe where zuma is under intense pressure to resign after several ram opposed to replace him as leader of the party talks at the weekend stale old to secure his departure. still to come on the program the only surviving suspect from the twenty fifteen paris attack appears in court in belgium and says he didn't say any questions on the photos that show china is making rapid progress building military bases in the south china sea. hello there we're seeing some heavy snow over moscow recently we've seen so much snow that it's actually brought down over two thousand trees and that in turn has brought down some power lines as well and it's also caused a fair amount of disruption now on the ground there

to the streets of damascus aleppo the alawite state and mount druze. lebannon would become a republic six years later. for . a different and you have. the british colonial office organized the cairo conference in one nine hundred twenty one hosted by the new colonial secretary winston churchill it drew another important line within the british area of influence separating the land east of the river jordan from palestine. churchill came to this brief without any preexisting ideas on the future of the middle east he was in a sense moving as quickly as events were to try and put in place at the administrative structures that could prove effective in securing britain's interests at least cost to the exchequer i mean there had been some. proposals which simply from the zionist organization which were pushing for a palestine being defined in much more extensive include the east bank of the jordan as well but in the end jordan and palestine and it up being under the same british mandate as you know at the end of the first world war and then we simply had an o

act of aggression state television is reporting explosions from what it says israeli attacks in the damascus well two f. sixteen pilots ejected from the plane and parachute safely into northern israel israeli army says they were shot at by massive anti-aircraft fire they were targeting a military base inside syria suspected of launching an iranian drone which flew towards the golan heights let's get more now from joins me from western so what's been the reaction so far inside israel to reports of this f. sixteen coming down. well the israelis are squarely blaming the iranians for this they have gone off to what they say are iranian targets inside of syria they say they've destroyed a command and control center for the unmanned aerial vehicle the drones flew over. really taking a look at what they should do next now we are hearing that a cabinet meeting the government is going to formulate a cabinet meeting to discuss what to do next also the minister of defense is meeting right now to see what kind of response of the formulates been a couple of emergency measures take place within israel its

its people and of seeking new ways to deliver them it follows a suspected chlorine gas attack near damascus on thursday which is injured at least three people well the white helmets volunteer rescue group has been posting pictures of the alleged gas attack on twitter under the hash tag suffocating rose in jordan as the latest from washington d.c. . the civil war in syria has not been at the top of the news agenda here in washington for at least several weeks but on thursday the trumpet ministration made known a couple of us serious concerns about the conduct of the war on the part of the government of president bashar al assad first reporters were told in a briefing off camera that they do believe that the syrian government still has a chemical weapons arsenal and did not come clean about the extent of their chemical weapons holdings back during the obama administration when they gave up their weapons in order to not face any sort of u.s. military action for targeting people with chemical weapons during the syrian civil war then here at the state department new allegations about the use of

in damascus have accused rebels of shelling the corridor to prevent people leaving the rebels deny this and say people will not leave because they fear the government sources say no civilians left and no humanitarian aid went in bought the russian president liked him a person has been speaking out insisting that some civilian evacuations did take place. managed to get quite a big group of those who wanted to leave but the second group couldn't leave because the militants just did not give them an opportunity to do so. a solomon jolliness following the story from gaza and. sources on the ground have not confirmed this large number as reported by the russian president who has crossed over from the buffeting crossing into government held parts of damascus many people are still stranded in besieged easton who the home to nearly four hundred thousand people that the second day of this so-called truce and pause went away without any major developments on the ground no aid convoys went inside because the united nations and other aid workers have been saying that this is too short of a window w

the syrian government's onslaught on the last rebel held area near the capital damascus has entered its seventh day five hundred people have been killed and there's been no letup in the bombing of eastern huta thousands of people are trapped in underground shelters and are appealing for help but world powers that the united nations haven't yet managed to push through a resolution calling for a cease fire resolution or a vote or a resolution is due to happen this hour add the united nations we'll bring you more on that as it happens first though this report from osama bin. rescuers are responding to crisis for help. people. like you but in eastern nor very safe. in moments of panic this search for children who disappeared in the debris. the children call for their father. was a civil defense worker says they must hurry to the basement. activists accuse the syrian government and russia for the airstrikes and shelling the suburb of syria's capital damascus has been bombarded specially hard for the last week. the only like these is from the fires which started after the bombing. these child

allies are sending military reinforcements to the edges of the rebel enclave just outside the capital damascus pro-government media are promising victory and what they say will be a decisive battle it will be the first time they will try to storm. past ground offensives where we by rebels and people are defiant. we have man who. they won't be able to capture one inch of. this is what we have been steadfast for seven years they tried many times and he was all kinds of weapons but they weren't able to take anything. the syrian government and its allies haven't taken ground but over the years they have continuously bombarded residential neighborhoods the syrian government and its allies have been capturing one opposition after another. target for some time now. the government captures territory after securing local ceasefire deals that involved opposition fighters and their families evacuated and sent to other rebel controlled areas mainly to the problems of the in the northwest. so far the people and rebels of eastern who are refusing to surrender but the reality on the ground is becoming harshe

furious bombing campaign by pro-government forces in syria targeting the last rebel stronghold near damascus nearly two hundred people have been killed since sunday this is eastern good has been besieged by the government says twenty thirteen four hundred thousand people in the rebel held enclave being bombed by syrian government troops and their russian allies and it's all happening on the edge of the capital damascus it is only a few kilometers away from the government center of power the presidential palace there are fears the bombardment is a precursor to a larger ground operation santa ana reports. panic in the streets was. this huge. fear in people's faces. neighborhoods flattened the airstrikes are almost continuous the towns across eastern huta are coming under intense fire was survivors emerge in shock children traumatized. the zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero the sound was on the phone to some four hundred thousand people are trapped in this besieged syrian opposition enclave nowhere is safe. the sound of fighter jets in the skies frig

guta is just outside damascus a rebel held area that includes the eastern suburbs of the capital. making it close enough for rebels to fire mortars into central damascus and for syrian forces to deliver a devastating response. since february eighteenth government forces have targeted a series of densely populated towns in the area the u.n. says there are nearly four hundred thousand people there that includes rebel fighters but most are civilians for days in a strike some bombardments of forced families and children into underground shelters we can't do anything we can't even go outside to get food. some of the weaponry being used is designed to target underground hiding places this video shot by an activist in the region on wednesday appears to show helicopters dropping vacuum bombs with their signature parachutes al jazeera can't confirm these are vacuum bombs but one weapons expert we spoke to says he's ninety nine percent sure they are this weapon creates a pressurized shockwave and a vacuum rupturing lungs and other internal organs that's if the target doesn't die in the init

damascus which is the capital. where fighting continues between. some of the. well there we need to tack on go to the we need to tackle on goes have follows major disagreement at the u.n. security council over how a ceasefire would be implementable let's go live to our diplomatic editor james bases at the u.n. in new york hi there james how have all these developments currently playing out in eastern guta faired at the u.n. well they're just adding to the divisions around the security council table which is spilling over into other agenda items certainly with regard to syria most members of the security council thought their resolution was pretty clear for a ceasefire without delay taking place across syria and particularly aimed to help the people of eastern ghouta that though has not happened for now and i think some members of the security council are even more concerned and possibly angry too because of the recent announcement by the russian president president putin that perhaps there can be a poor's for five hours a day the u.s. sorry the u.k. acting amba

guta is just outside damascus a rebel held area that includes the eastern suburbs of the capital. making it close enough for rebels to fire mortars into central damascus and for syrian forces to deliver a devastating response. since february eighteenth government forces have targeted a series of densely populated towns in the area the u.n. says there are nearly four hundred thousand people there that includes rebel fighters but most are civilians for days as strikes and months of forced families and children into underground shelters we can't do anything we can't even go outside to get food. some of the weaponry being used is designed to target underground hiding places this video shot by an activist in the region on wednesday appears to show helicopters dropping vacuum bombs with their signature parachutes al jazeera can't confirm these are vacuum bombs but one weapons expert we spoke to says he's ninety nine percent sure they are this weapon creates a pressurized shockwave and a vacuum rupturing lungs and other internal organs that's if the target doesn't die in the initial fire

well let's get a better idea of this area it encompasses the eastern suburbs of damascus rebel mortar fire can reach the center of the city so victory in eastern guta is a big government priority to rebel groups hostile to each other control different sections of the own clave along with several smaller groups government forces of try to enter by using the homes to damascus highway and also harass. all right this speaks live now to our correspondent. on the turkish side of the border with syria and so it was just hours after that intense session at the united nations in new york and they agreed to a ceasefire and that's when government launched this new phase to its operation on . a small team there's nothing immediate about the cease fire as soon as it was announced they were syrians who expressed concerns about the language that is being used because the syrian government has been insisting that what it's fighting in eastern is what it calls terrorism it says it is fighting for a front which people. say is not the case people have been describing to us that the number of elements fo

and damascus were put under french protection and were called area a. the rest of mr potato and the south of greater syria were put under british protection and called area b. . what's palestine including jerusalem was designated as an international zone in brown. all those like speaker was never implemented it formed the basis of future negotiations and the post autumn in middle east resembled the areas of influence it created so the map has different colors different letters but ultimately what really matters is the line in the sand that runs from the car east to the persian from here. in this yes. the national. fates x. people. while they're not quite i mean. in them i don't really need to know the arab men. that. called for most of wealthy. woman in this. town. sharia law to be from the who let it. be funny in a funny way the british felt that this system that the arabs so viewed as a betrayal. was in keeping with the terms of what they've agreed with the hashemites because they were still considering the territories if there is informal british and

near damascus despite a u.n. resolution calling for a truce across the country will monitor say one government is strike killed a family of nine on sunday syrian troops launched a ground assault entering the on klav through three towns harasta house and also we hear of a ship full near now that last time has reportedly been attacked using chlorine gas well as some a binge of a joins us now from gaza on turkey's southern border with syria will sum up this cease fire how effective can these humanitarian pauses be because we've seen this pattern before in the conflict haven't we. absolutely this is not the first time that we're hearing of a humanitarian pause they have happened multiple times in the last seven years of the syrian conflict this one in particular is interesting because since saturday this is the first time that we are seeing any movement on the ground or the call for any movement on the ground since the united nations security council unanimously agreed for the thirty day ceasefire it is worth noting

syrian kurdish fighters say they've reached an agreement with the damascus government for the syrian army to enter the free and region to help repel a turkish offensive turkey launched operation all of branch last month to clear a freeing of kurdish y p g fighters who they regard as terrorist linked to the p.k. k. a senior kurdish official told the reuters news agency that syrian government troops will deploy to some border positions within two days al-jazeera spoke to the y. p.g. spokesman nuri mahmud he said we are calling on the syrian army to protect our frame because we'd love to preserve the united unified syria we are saying this because the international community continues to address the syrian leadership as sovereign and we call on this authority to protect its territory. is following the story for us from istanbul. when it comes to fruition this deal would not be a surprise because kurdish fighters the people whose production units are white b.g. have been in negotiations with the bashar al assad government for a number of days now sources have been telling us that there a

but these other n.g.o.s in damascus or. did you to go and do our best part of the siege you. look at everything from all sides this is why just the cash money for people inside to buy from the government is side about it is also very difficult because the prices became even thirty times higher than were in damascus so you just need a ceasefire and the humanitarian access of. actors who need to be an activist to get in and save more people or at least a shot we thank you very much for your time for joining us on al-jazeera that is is that sure hane of the i h h joining us live from istanbul thank you. let's move on to other news now and there have been four attacks in a goddess on fighters stormed the army outpost at balboa look at the west killing at least twenty soldiers and security forces have also been targeted in lashkar gah and another attack took place in nearby they are and i saw has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in kabul a correspondent twenty but lee is joining us live from kabul a deadly day across the country tony what more are you hearing about all

be able to reach out for them there's not much faith in promises of help in this damascus suburb under siege for the last five years but even the dead are not exempt from destruction of a job made out of the era. of the turkey syria border well the u.s. state department has spoken saying russia is to blame for much of the recent misery caused by the syrian government when you see the russian government propping up bashar al assad when you see what bashar al assad has done to his very own people including innocent women and children i'm a mom i see those videos i'm horrified and second by at and i can share the sentiment on behalf of everyone in the united states i think when they see that that that is unacceptable russia is propping up that regime russia had said years ago that it would help help syria get rid of its chemical weapons russia failed to do that the syrian regime was back on its heels years ago who came in and prop them up or russia dead. german cities will soon be able to ban the use of diesel cars on their streets after a ruling from the federal court and measures are be

be able to reach out for them there's not much faith in promises of help in this damascus suburb under siege for the last five years but even the dead are not exempt from destruction of a job made out of the era. of the turkey syria border where the u.s. state department says russia is to blame for much of the recent misery caused by syria's government jordan reports from washington d.c. the state department spokesperson heather nauert tells al-jazeera the situation in the middle east does have a common for destabilizing factor and that is the government of russia russia had said years ago that it would help but help syria get rid of its chemical weapons russia failed to do that the syrian regime was back on its heels years ago who came in and prop them up or russia dead so without russian support syria we believe the united states government believes would not be in the position to attack people the misery that the syrian people are feeling right now is because of its own people its government the government of bashar al assad and also russia. well hillary mann leverett the chief exec

nations is calling for an immediate end to the targeting of civilians in the area near the capital damascus it says the humanitarian situation is spiraling out of control according to the union of medical care and relief the bombing has destroyed five medical facilities nearly four hundred thousand people remain trapped in eastern goods which has been under siege since twenty thirteen let's go which is in a hurry she joins us live from beirut zain a it's an area that's been experiencing relative calm until recently what happened . well yes a week or so there was a relative call it was shattered on sunday when there was intense bombardment like you mentioned more than a hundred and ten people killed women and children among them since sunday intense bombardment an airstrike what we understand is that there were negotiations russian brokered negotiations to try to bring about some sort of a rebel to render but the rebels on the ground remain defiant saying they will not accept a surrender so this is the government's way really of punishing the people for supporting the rebels they've been tar

that's close to the capital damascus and in the northeastern province of italy thirty four people were killed on wednesday in eastern guta that's where four hundred thousand people are trapped without food and medicine for the government has laid siege to this area since twenty thirteen and it's a similar story for it live were at least four people died in the ongoing government offensive which is backed by russia russian bombing of in libya in fact has increased since one of its planes was shot down in the pilot killed by rebels on saturday and the irony is that both italy and goods are supposed to be so-called deescalation zones where violence was supposed to be much reduced than a harder reports from beirut. civil defense volunteers look for survivors but instead they're pulling out the dead from the rubble of what was once homes children women men dozens of them have been killed in air strikes that are leveling residential buildings. this man just lost his son. god bless you he says clearly still in a state of shock. it's day three of an intensified military campaign. multiple area

where the first daily five hour window when fighting is supposed to stop in a rebel held on clay near damascus has come and gone with little success the truce was supposed to allow aid to get aid in and the injured to get out of east include to well there were multiple violations during the window from nine am to two pm two people were killed at government air strikes read. also accused of breaking that deal with a truce ordered by russia was meant to allow for the vacuum ration of civilians but none of the injured actually go out and that have a still down to zero that's because the russians did not provide a trusted third party to help the evacuation even if the daily ceasefire does hold aid groups are skeptical too they say five hours is simply not long enough to provide any meaningful help say the honda reports. some emerged from underground shelters to buy food and water others returned home to collect whatever is left of their belongings the relative calm gave the people of eastern some respect a five hour pause in the assault by the pro syrian government alliance on the besieged enclave

multiple areas of the rebel held damascus suburb of eastern who are coming under fire people there are saying russian and syrian government aircraft have been carry out one strike after another. people here believe russia is taking revenge after his plane was shot down by the rebels and its pilot was killed it is intense bombardment at least eight hundred people are wounded some of them very seriously and they can't be treated here. there is a lack of medical supplies and doctors eastern huta has been besieged by pro-government forces for years it is both home and the traffic for some four hundred thousand people doctors have put up makeshift health centers but they too are being hit the top of a center is now out of service it was hit by the planes it was the only medical center in this town and fifteen thousand people the united nations is calling for the fighting throughout syria to stop for a month to allow aid deliveries and evacuations of the sick and wounded at least five hundred are in. the enclave just outside the capital has been heavily bombarded since mid december but the p

well there are four hundred thousand civilians trapped in the damascus suburbs empty buses ambulances. crossing points. to go in and evacuate people president putin says russia managed to get quote quite a big group of civilians out but other sources say no civilians left. humanitarian aid went in when the massacres have a. rebels of shelling the corridor to prevent people leaving rebels deny this. because they fear the government. is the people of syria face a direct humanitarian crisis un security council resolution two four zero one has established a framework for all parties to agree upon conditions to elevate the plot of civilians throughout the country russia together with the syrian government have already announced the establishment of humanitarian corridors in a sting now it is the turn of the militants and this sponsors to act the militants entrenched they continue the shelling of damascus blocking i deliver ease and the evacuation of those wishing to leave. well some have been jeff joins us live now from. turkey's southern border with syria. president putin says that a lot

death toll continues to climb in syria where the government bombing of a rebel held and place near damascus shows no signs of abating rockets have been fired into eastern ghouta for a six straight day pushing the death toll to four hundred forty three people. since sunday well the u.n. security council was due to vote in the past few hours on imposing a thirty day ceasefire in syria but it's all been delayed by continued last minute negotiations a summer binge of a brings us more now on what's happening in eastern guta. there's a larger audience every church they call out for those left on another floor but in the dense dust and debris it's hard to see who's left the upper floor is on fire. the doctor tells r.t. to open his eyes so he can wash it out medical workers in eastern are calling for urgent assistance because of the continuous heavy bombardment. incendiary bombs are now appearing in the night skies weapons intended to start large fires when they hit the ground. people in bodies are pulled out from crevices between buildings the nearly four hundred thousand people in the besieged en

their russian allies jets also targeted the rebel long clove of eastern of all the near the capital damascus government forces of besieged the area for five years now four hundred thousand syrians are trapped by the bombing by russian jets in the provinces supporting a major offensive by syrian government forces it's aimed at recapturing a strategically important road between the cities of aleppo and damascus troops have been fighting opposition groups for weeks there moving northwest trying to cut off a rebel supply line the road between aleppo and damascus connects some of the few remaining opposition held areas of syria at least two people have been killed the nineteen others injured in attacks on turkish towns near the border with syria. turkey says the rockets were fired from a kurdish enclave inside syria it's been more than two weeks of intense fighting in the area turkey launched an offensive to clear the region of syrian kurdish forces known as the y. p.g. which it calls a terrorist group and the free syrian army says it will investigate allegations its fighters mutilated the corpse

syrian army positions what they said were iranian targets and they were targeting an area southwest of damascus an area known as close by where we understand an iranian military base is being built it's not the first time they've targeted this area the base is not operational yet but clearly it is a message to iran we will not allow you to set up permanent bases we will not allow you to entrench yourself militarily and we want you away from the border so serious escalation hezbollah's media unit issuing

deliver them it follows a suspected chlorine gas attack in rebel held territory on the outskirts of damascus say roselyn jordan has more from the state department. the civil war in syria has not been at the top of the news agenda here in washington for at least several weeks but on thursday the trumpet ministration made known a couple of serious concerns about the conduct of the war on the part of the government of president bashar al assad first reporters were told in a briefing off camera that they do believe that the syrian government still has a chemical weapons arsenal and did not come clean about the extent of their chemical weapons holdings back during the obama administration when they gave up their weapons in order to not face any sort of u.s. military action for targeting people with chemical weapons during the syrian civil war then here at the state department new allegations about the use of a weapon that technically isn't a weapon but still has very dangerous effects when used against people we are watching very carefully and the united states is an extremely concerned about yet

people and of seeking new ways to deliver them and follows i suspected chlorine gas a tightening of damascus on thursday which has injured at least three people well the white helmets volunteer rescue group has been posting pictures of the alleged careen gas attack on twitter under the hashtag duma suffocating russian and jordan that's the latest from washington d.c. . this is a war in syria has not been at the top of the news agenda here in washington for at least several weeks but on thursday the trumpet ministration made known a couple of serious concerns about the conduct of the war on the part of the government of president bashar al assad first reporters were told in a briefing off camera that they do believe that the syrian government still has a chemical weapons arsenal and did not come clean about the extent of their chemical weapons holdings back during the obama administration when they gave up their weapons in order to not face any sort of u.s. military action for targeting people with chemical weapons during the syrian civil war then here at the state department new allegations

just outside the syrian capital damascus let's get the very latest from our correspondent zain the whole the reporting from beirut there has been no letup in the violence activist reporting more civilian deaths women and children killed in yet another airstrike also activists reporting a chlorine attack now there has been a drop in the intensity of the bombardment if you compare it to the first few days of this bombing campaign which were really relentless and more than five hundred people are killed a drop in the intensity but nevertheless this bombardment continues pro-government alliance putting more pressure on the people of to surrender in the pro-government alliance at the same time trying to advance on the ground trying to push into hasn't been easy the rebels have been able to hold their ground they're deeply entrenched in eastern governments really concentrating the bombardment in frontline areas in areas and towns close to the front lines which makes it easier for them to advance because people start fleeing flee fleeing the area so no letup in the violence clearly the security

the government of that that means between damascus and that no maps are talking about maps that are daily need think. of this of this of this region as the regime and its allies might be acting east of of the way between the mosque and whereas the wisdom bought of the real way would be still actually at the hands of the syrian opposition so here actually there are so many did. we have to watch on the ground. the father of three girls who were sexually abused by the doctor of the usa gymnastics team is trying to attack him during his latest cold hearing randall ma graves lunged at lowry naso being already sentenced to one hundred seventy five years in prison john hendren reports to me. a father's fury his target the man who sexually abused his three daughters over the years you too as far as a certain thing. to grant me five minutes and a lot of there's a demon you know that i can't do that that's not how i will go what america's going . to meet. the man he wanted to get his hands on his larry nasser former olympic gymnastics doctor in a convicted serial child molester i'm possibly the las

look the suburb of damascus is under attack well her car was. going well we heard a plane overhead the myside landed people were torn into pieces i was with my nephew and we were both injured what i heard was the sound of an ambulance and i found myself here hundreds killed hundreds more injured the united nations says makeshift hospitals are being hit some are now out of service there is a humanitarian crisis and there is nowhere to hide. there is no safe place i tried to convince my parents to say in the first floor of our building thinking it would be safer but they told me there's no difference because buildings are being flattened in the strikes. the government said military reinforcements to the frontlines around the besieged enclave the pro-government newspaper says the bombing campaign comes ahead of what it said will be a vast operation which may start on the ground at any time. the thousands of rebels there are promising to repel any advance a ground offensive will not be easy the government and its allies have repeatedly tried to stor

others in night they include a weapons supply heart attack last year near damascus airport syrian rebels say the target was weapons sent from iran for the lebanese group hezbollah also last year the syrian army said israel rockets were fired at a military base near damascus the syrian government denied an attack eleven years ago on a nuclear reactor under construction the first israeli strike on syria says the one nine hundred seventy three middle east war was fifteen years ago the target was a suspect says training camp for policy and fighters the syrian government requested a special meeting of the united nations security council took and down the attacks . let's now bring in our guests joining us from to have on mohammad marandi professor of north american studies at the university of the han from tel aviv is nary a junk fellow at the washington institute for near east policy and from a man is memo retired jordanian force general welcome to your own like to start about asking. this the downing of the f. sixteen jet is it an isolated incident or do you see it as a new phase in the syri