lights flare over the syrian capital damascus as western missiles fall. in a wave of strikes launched from naval vessels and the year the u.s. banks my french and british forces bomb syria. they were aiming to knock out three targets related to syria's chemical weapons program. two facilities in the capital damascus and one in the western city of homs . syria state t.v. broadcast footage of the building it said was a research center hit by a mistrial the joint military action came a week after a gas attack on civilians which was thought to have been carried out by the forces of syrian president bashar assad. we are prepared to sustain this response until the syrian regime stops or choose of prohibited chemical agents i also have a message tonight for the two governments most responsible for supporting equipping and financing the criminal assad regime to iran and to russia i ask what kind of a nation wants to be associated with the mass murder of innocent men women and children. this is the largest display of joint force by western nations against the assa

has targeted damascus or around damascus since the beginning of the syria crisis. you've got over half a million people who have been killed in this crisis. and for the u.s. to take some action after seven years has really gotten to people in damascus that the situation is very tense. now, the presidency page in syria uploaded a video of the president going into work as usual this morning. that's probably another ploy just to show the world that things are continuing as normal. i can definitely tell you that in the hours between 4:30 and 5:30 this morning, things were not normal. this was not -- this was not initially a symbolic strike in an airfield in the middle of nowhere. this was a strike within and around damascus for the first time since the start of the syria crisis. now, we've also heard intense reports of strikes around homs. the homs strike has been confirmed. so we're getting reports now of more strikes around syria which have happened but have taken longer to confirm due to the fact they're quite far away from damascus. there are russian jets in the sk

very different sound here in damascus. what we are hearing here is the sound ofair what we are hearing here is the sound of air strikes, almost rumbling sort of sounds which sound like thunder in the distance. we we re like thunder in the distance. we were here on this balcony which faces south—east over damascus. we we re faces south—east over damascus. we were listening to president trump speak about four o'clock local time early this morning, and while the president was speaking we were hearing those are strikes. we were also starting to see behind us, over the balcony here, we saw streaking through the skies flares lighting up the night sky. we were also seeing and hearing some anti—aircraft fire, and hearing some anti—aircraft fire, and syrian state tv was reporting that 13, according to them, 13 missiles had been shot out of the sky, it indeed that proves to be true that would certainly be a badge of honourfor true that would certainly be a badge of honour for the syrians, who said that there anti—aircraft

and it is further away than damascus. it will take time to understand exactly how things are planned out. but what i can tell you is that this, these attacks have definitely, and conspicuously taken damascus by surprise. we were expecting being here. been here three months. we were expecting, de-escalation. over three days. weren't expecting an attack to happen today. especially after the different messages being center out by, by russia, by the french, by trump. and the fact that, that trump stated that, that there would be an attack. but he hasn't specified when. we thought the russians were taking diplomacy on board. this would be sold differently. but to our amazement, the attack happened today. and, for duration of 50 minutes. different sites within damascus. possibly syria were targeted by planes and missiles. i could confirm that i heard war planes in the sky as, well as the missles fired. soap that ultimately adds to the fact it was a two prong add take using war plaepz and missiles. while we take stock, it will b

the latest we have heard, we arejust damascus? the latest we have heard, we are just getting social media and state tv in syria is now showing that civilians have gathered near a square close to a military airport on the outskirts of damascus which was apparently attacked by american cruise missiles. i think this gives you some illustration, people are just waking up this morning in the middle east, the syrian government will be assessing the damage, but after the fire and furious at we have seen over the past few days, this does appear from their point of view, although they have not stated publicly, they will see this as a limited strike. they will have two make their assessments, but for now it does appear that the americans have targeted chemical weapons facilities, we know in damascus, we know near homs. but after all those tweets and all the buildup, perhaps there may be a feeling of relief in damascus, that this was not more serious. and you say that is because of the nature of the western strikes, that they are targeted an

see how things are right now in damascus to enlist . the twelve hours or more from these attacks how are people in damascus reacting and what's life like there right now. what initially it around four thirty in the morning the reaction was very it was very surprising you know it was one of one of surprise that the u.s. had actually what struck damascus for the first time in seven years and after the initial one hour long bombardment of different sites within damascus and in hama and in homs the reaction that kind of go back to normal if you like it's one of defiance one of showing the united states france and britain that life will continue as normal in damascus we've seen numerous pro. syrian military protests pro-government protests today and in damascus in the end in other areas we've seen rallies denouncing the decision of donald trump and enco to strike syria in the early hours of yesterday evening and we've seen this syrian president upload a video this morning of the president assad going into work at nine o'clock as i asked the

the syrian capital of damascus now it's important to note that damascus is a part of syria that is under the control of the syrian government and there are syrians from all across the country who have had to flee their homes during the course of this war as extremists and terrorists that want to topple the syrian government have been gaining ground and seizing area people have fled their homes and taken refuge in damascus receiving protection from bombs from the syrian government the syrian government has been offering protection to its citizens in damascus a lot of the military operations in recent months have been the syrian government protecting damascus because it's so densely populated there have been shelling of damascus by terrorists terrorist forces there have been efforts efforts to make sure that damascus because it is so densely populated with syrian civilians who have fled from all over the country there been efforts to make sure it is secure well now we have confirmation that it was in damascus that the airstrikes from the united states with the support of the u.k. and franc

but all the attacks not exactly in damascus center but around damascus. also reports of explosions in eastern syria. two different locations in eastern syria. but what struck me in listening to president trump is that this isn't designed or wasn't explained to be a one-off operation. he said this is an open-ended commitment that the u.s. is prepared to continue these operations until bashar al assad stops using chemical weapons. that is if not a new war in the middle east, it is certainly a new open-ended mission, and it is one that carries significant risk. already syrian air defense as cording to syrian state tv, according to some video posted on social immediamedia i was ju looking at, syrian air defenses are in action. syrian state tv broke into its coverage, and it is now about 4:30 in the morning in damascus, to tell whoever was watching that syrian air defenses are in action launching counterstrikes against what it described as the u.s., french, and british aggression. i've been told by u.s. officials that there were great efforts made to try and c

two hours seven pm damascus time with. damascus. and my government will of course provide every support to this delegation first to carry out its of the mission successfully about the facilities of the research facility which was targeted by this tripartite aggression. the building actually. that building up a list that was visited. twice last year by experts from the o.p.c. w. welcomed them willing was inspected just me. and you had the inspection was authorized if you had an official document you moved. that stipulated one of them and of that you have. well stated that syria had no i don't that is obligations he says. there were no cable no activities in this building us media phenomenon now if the experts the. americans but as it handed to us in official document which confirms that this center. was not used any type of chemical activity that is in contravention to. the o.p.c. doubly how do you reconcile that with what we've heard this morning and. how do you reconcile that with all these accusations and then the claims that this

for of us now there's some pictures on our screen all of those protesters gathering in damascus. a year ago the u.k. parliament rejected joining the u.s. so this year to reason may didn't even all scams and pays for approval what you think back to his own what kind of backlash to think she's going to get about. look honestly there's a lot of interest behind this is we know there's the oils that we'll discover in the pipeline that they're negotiating it's unfortunate to see how people instead of really for example with us what happens make america great again why don't we focus on our own nation we have homelessness we have issues that we need to resolve britain has their own issues why don't we let the syrian people continue doing what they're doing solving their own issues i mean ninety percent of the country over the seven years that they've been able to quite out of terrorism why didn't we help them from the beginning it would have been done within two weeks rather than take this long they just keep on rearming they just we are in saudi arabia again they are the terrorists the

and the rebel held on clay monitors say more than two hundred fifty people have been killed in the damascus suburbs since sunday. also in syria a new escalation looms in the country's north that's as pro syrian government forces enter the town of offering to help the kurds defend against a turkish offensive turkey's president russia time out of one suspect says they pay a heavy price. for the new push for gun control after the florida school shooting the u.s. president says he supports a battle devices that turn seventy automatic weapons into machine guns but will that satisfy demands for meaningful change. oh i'm terry martin thanks for joining us there is mounting international concern about the latest assault on eastern ghouta by syrian government forces the rebel held area has been under heavy bombardment and independent monitors now say more than two hundred fifty people have been killed there since sunday. is a group of suburbs on the outskirts of the capital damascus duma is the main town in the enclave which is completely surrounded by pro assad forces the siege which has lasted. mo

it's afternoon there in damascus. what else are you seeing as far as sieve -- civilians or residences in syria? >> there has been a number of rallies taking place across syria. that's strange considering the events that happened yesterday morning. at the center of damascus you have tens of thousands of civilians and protesters gathering and stating their defiance in the face of these u.s.-led attacks participated as well by britain and france. it's essentially a message of strength. these attacks won't break us. in addition to that, you have the syrian president filmed for the first time throughout the war going into work in a video this morning, which was released by the presidency page on twitter. going into work as if nothing happened. as if things continued as normal. i can definitely tell that sometimes in the late hours of yesterday evening things were not normal. there was a big state of panic within syria over the attacks. not a lot was clear about what was happening. and definitely in terms of the civilian pe

has targeted damascus or around damascus since the beginning of the syrian crisis. nearly 500,000 have been killed in this crisis and for the u.s. to take some action after seven years has really gone to people in damascus that the situation is very tense. now the presidency page in syria uploaded a video of the president going into work as usual this morning. and that's probably another ploy to show the world that things are continuing as normal. but i can definitely tell you in the hours between 4:30 and 5:30 this morning, things were not normal at all. this was not -- this was not initially a symbolic strike in an air field in the middle of nowhere. this was a strike within and around damascus for the first time since the start of the syrian crisis. >> that from syrian journalist danny makki describing what it was like in damascus when those air strikes were happening. >> thank you for being along with us. i'm natalie allen. >> i'm george howell. our breaking news continues. more reaction to the united states, the uk and france conducting military strikes in syri

cbs news for bbc news, damascus. british troops entered the nazi concentration camp at bergen belsen in germany 73 years ago this week, saving the lives of thousands. one of them was hetty verolme. in 1945 she was interviewed by the bbc, just days after the liberation. she returned recently to belsen and spoke again to the bbc. our correspondent jeremy cooke reports. for hetty verolme, this is a walk back in time. back to a place of darkness and the place of death. we were jews, that's why we were brought here. hetty, has come back to belsen. archive: beyond the barrier, the smell of death and decay, of corruption and filth. hetty was here when british troops marched through the gates exactly 73 years ago. 52,000 people died here. if you gave up hope that you wouldn't live, that the future was gone, you would be dead in two days. hetty was 13 years old when she and her two brothers were deported from holland to belsen, along with their parents. as the camp was finally liberated, she found the strength to tell her sto

on the street damascus, there was defiance this morning. this man said the enemy missiles we re this man said the enemy missiles were destroyed in the syrian skies and his country had not been affected in any way. just reiterate what was being said at the end of that report, donald trump said after the strikes took place that it was the us‘s intention to make sure that the production and use of chemical weapons was degraded in syria. he said that was in the interests of the united states. like to washington now and chris butler whojoins us from to washington now and chris butler who joins us from there. on the comments pages and in newspaper coverage of this, all around the world, there is some confusion. president trump said to the effect of this was action that would continue, and under defence secretary, james mattis, said this was one might strikes. what is going on? is it just was one might strikes. what is going on? is itjust one night of strikes? i will give you exactly the quote from james matters, in which he said very clearly th

down several missiles in it damascus now as i said both the u.k. and france have also confirmed they joined the military operation with the americans a short time ago i ordered the united states armed forces to launch precision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities of syrian dictator bashar al assad. a combined operation with the armed forces of france and the united kingdom. is now underway we thank them both. ok let's go straight to a solid binge of it he joins us from near the syria turkey border so we can see the sun rising that these strikes occurred in the very early hours of the morning just about two hours ago now are we getting a clear idea of what exactly has been hit. laura as the sun comes up in syria people are now going to try and find out what exactly was hit what we know so far is that three targets were. hit by this coalition of the united states french and british air forces as well as missiles strikes these targets were one of them was close to the capital of damascus where we've seen a number of pi

syria independent monitors say that more than two hundred and fifty people have been killed in the damascus suburb of eastern since sunday it's under bombardment by syrian government forces. also coming up germany's armed forces are just not good enough a parliamentary report says that there are too few troops and that they lack the quickmatch that they need to put up a fight. and the giant flooded cavern in mexico that is proving a treasure trove for scientists and archaeologists it contains remains and artifacts going back ten thousand years. i'm sorry kelly welcome to the program we begin in syria in the rebel held damascus in the rebel held suburb of damascus known as eastern gupta it's been under bombardment by syrian government forces and independent monitors now say that more than two hundred fifty people have been killed there since sunday the u.n. is warning that eastern ghouta could become a second aleppo. in the bombed out caucus of eastern goods these are the lucky ones terrified shaking up the stair walking. first responders ushered them to safety as an air raid siren underline

it is on the south side of damascus. key part of the chemical weapons and the weapons are stored at the messe air base and launched from the air base 20 miles north east of damascus also hit. so we are going after the part of the compel -- the chemical weapon program and we'll see how accurate the targeting has been. >> nic robertson is standing by in moscow. any statements by the regime in moscow? >> nothing by the regime, but the main opposition figure here denied the opportunity to run in recent elections but he said assad is no friend of the russians and president putin is using the money of russian pensioners to prop up assad and keep him in power. so certainly the opposition here using this as an opportunity to get their voice out, thinking about what president trump said military economic and diplomatic measures to be brought to bear here. it was president macron of france that called president trump by phone today and told him that he was disappointed and worried about the state of the -- the civil war in syria a

the explosions reported on twitter and downtown damascus suggest that the u.s. and allies will be exacting a price from president bashar assad himself. and if you look at the strike a year ago when 59 tomahawk and air strikes, they targeted university one base where the chemical weapon's attack occurred a year ago. that only took out 20 percent of president bashar assad aircraft x. within 24 hours, his air force was flying again. and in order to provide a deterrent, this will be a stronger signal and we'll know more when the pentagon breves us on the targets. >> sean: the russia blocking u.n. condemnation and accusing the uk of using chemical weapons and russia pulled out all of their vessels from the area and we talked about and mentioned sabre was from moscow and not putin himself. >> reporter: we heard from senior russian officials whether it is labroov. he made the threat. and so very, very top officials that speak for putin were issuing those threats to at this time u.s., but again, the u.s. military has forced protection in place and so they did not take t

these are nearly four thousand people displaced from doumani of the syrian capital damascus where the latest suspected chemical attack happened. we lived in birthdays in history and bhutto especially in the last three days with the original creation in juba which used resulting in suffocation cases among the civilians i would force displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in chemical attacks were unthinkable for these protesters in two thousand and twelve in the beginning really mobile videos used to capture a peaceful syrian uprising against bashar al assad. in the syrian government began its brutal crackdown with the arrests torture and killings the opposition also picked up weapons. and radical groups such as ice and took advantage that was the first event for the assad government which insisted it was fighting what it called terrorists. a major syrian chemical attack in change things in two thousand and thirteen and the threat of u.s. action inside syria remains that a threat to the international community is credibility is on the line and america and congress' credibility

what does damascus get out of cooperating with the. well my guess is damascus is goal is to recapture reconquer territory in syria to gain control again over large parts of syria and if they indeed struck a deal with the kurds which also includes a political agreement which the current so far deny they say this deal has only pragmatic goals it doesn't include any political agreement but if it did for example some kind of a federal system which includes the kurds but under damascus as control it means to moscow's would regain territory and would be the major power to control large parts of syria again. well with turkey a bogged down in syria ankara is seeking to improve military ties with its allies including germany for the past a few days a brought a dizzying turnaround in relations having released a german turkish journalist that is huge oh it was held in istanbul for a year without charge it looks to stop as though turkey is angling for a quid pro quo critics of ankara's offensive against syria's kurds fear it may involve a previous

and france of course two sites in homes or near homes and one site in damascus was struck just a few hours ago targeting chemical weapons facilities owned by a sad when we heard president trump and defense actually masses speaking they were at great pains to insist that all measures have been taken to prevent civilian casualties. right and you know with daylight we find out whether or not those many refer to a surgical strikes were in fact as precise as they'd hoped i can tell you rarely are they one hundred percent clean in terms of civilian casualties or what the united states often will call collateral damage so certainly with daylight not surprised that we're getting those kinds of lines coming out of syria i think it's important to note that while the united states said that this time the strikes that occurred were different from what we saw one year ago in terms of these three target areas the three chemical weapon sites and well there was this sort of sense of relief that you were talking with rory about that this is finally occurred i think we have to look at the u.s. languag

i have been talking to someone damascus. i have been talking to someone who is not a supporter of president assad. a young man who does not want his name used. he is a syrian who left the country couple of years ago. he is planning to head back. he told me a little bit earlier that while he does not support the strikes, you're also does not want to see president assad stay in power for any longer. does not want to see president assad stay in powerfor any longer. there are two competing narratives here. multiple competing narratives. from damascus, one of the places where, from where this coalition air force launched, and our correspondent colleague for us in the, in cyprus and the british base there. jonathan, british warplanes are just a small number of launching relatively limited number of missiles. not targeted at damascus to whom we were just speaking, but targeted further north. yes, andrew member they have been flying operations, the eight were made of jazz, six typhoons, based here in cyprus for the last three years

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

in damascus today there were scenes of celebration. people took to the streets to dance and to hail the defiance of the syrian people and president assad. so what is the mood like in the syrian capital today? 0r collea g u es like in the syrian capital today? 0r colleagues at cbs sent this report from damascus. we were driving around but we were unable to get in because of checkpoints. we have seen images inside of the devastation. the building appears to be com pletely the building appears to be completely destroyed and pictures we re completely destroyed and pictures were released on syrian television earlier this morning. unbelievably neighbours relatively unfazed. people opening windows so they wouldn't burst, but watching this kind of display in the sky as we watched. it was interesting to me listening to president trump speak in one earand listening to president trump speak in one ear and looking out over this city watching anti—aircraft fire and also seeing and hearing those air strikes hit their targets. pictures that were re

this is live from syria at war with turkey and all but one day damascus has struck a deal with kurdish rebels to help propel turkey's offensive in syria's african region syrian state media says pro-government troops could be on the frontline within hours also on the program. female driven movies take center stage at the international film festival takes a look at the italian adoption drama exploring a young girl search for identity. of the procedure bunch of posted. the race for europe we'll bring you the highlights. and. welcome to the program so is offensive against the kurds in northern syria looks likely to escalate after a previously unthinkable deal between the syrian government and kurds in syria's afferent region to damascus has agreed to send pro-government of fighters to the rebel held area in order to help repel turkish troops syrian forces will fight alongside the syrian democratic forces. roll call two hundred fighters from the syrian democratic forces or s.d.f. present for inspection at their barracks the exact location here in northern syria cannot be revealed it's the s

to damascus in a very strong show of support to the syrian government as the u.s. was debating on what action to take and in the syrian capital issuing two threats one threat to the israeli government saying that iran will retaliate for that attack on the t. for air base and at the same time a warning to the united states telling them that their troops in syria are considered occupying forces the americans have two thousand approximately two thousand troops in the north east of the country in the kurdish region and will lay it to saying that a military operation will be launched in that area to quote liberated and expel the u.s. forces so iran really raising the stakes because iran feels it is the target they were afraid that this will not be a limited action that just targeted the syrian government's chemical weapons infrastructure there were a lot of reports that the possibility of iranian troops and bases in syria will be targeted as well as hezbollah that clearly did not happen it's not clear whether behind the scenes negotiations it's because a behind the scen

i lived in damascus and not too far from that area. this is right in the middle of a heavily densely populated area. and for us to put cruise missiles in that area indicates a high confidence to put the missiles there and not hit those civilian populations. this is much different than what we did last year when we were striking those airfields. >> there was a bit of confusion, so to speak. maybe they weren't on the same message, who knows. the president saying it was a sustained attack. secretary mattis said earlier no additional attacks planned, this was going to be a single attack unless assad didn't get the message. a one time strike like this and saying it's a one time strike, why telegraph when there's been so much criticism especially from this particular president about telegraphing to the enemy what we're going to do. >> don, in this particular case is the divergence between what the president said in terms of a sustained effort and what secretary mattis said in terms of this being a strike, really allows the united states and

targets close to the capital damascus. it says both israeli planes and missiles were deployed and claims it brought down one plane. israel has refused to confirm any military action. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in damascus. they‘ re now happening every few months, israel striking its neighbour, syria. but it comes at a time when israel grows ever more worried about the growing threat along its northern border with syria. and that is because that border has been largely controlled by syrian rebel forces, and they‘ re losing ground. and for israel, that means notjust that the syrian military is coming closer to its border, it's that two of syria's most important allies are also approaching israel, and they happen to be israel's against enemies in this region. so i think it's fair to say that the real target of these strikes is not syria, the syrian military. it is iran and hezbollah. and what we know of the strike — it hit arms depots north—east of damascus, which are used both by the syrian

the area around the syrian capital damascus has reportedly been liberated from islamic state with the terror group being pushed out of its last remaining enclave there more on that story after the break. we've signed one of the greatest. but there was one more question and by the way it's going to be our coach. guys i know you are nervous he's a huge star and the huge amount of pressure you have to the center of the beach hotel we. go all the great. you are the rock at the back nobody gets to you we need you to. go. alone. and i'm really happy to join. russia. this special one. meets the review. the latest edition to make up a bigger. look. all right welcome back this is art international the syrian army has reportedly driven islamic state out of its final enclave near damascus the development means that all areas around the syrian capital are now back under government control state television footage from the country shows the army celebrating its victory and firing rounds in the air after retaking the. district and the palestinian refugee camp the area has seen intense fighting betw

diplomats traveled to damascus to meet the syrian president. assad made an astonishing gesture of goodwill he offered to start talks on a peace deal with syria's archenemy israel the us responded by appointing a new ambassador to damascus the post had been vacant for five years. i. seem to be winning on all diplomatic fronts. he has now restored relations with russia iran and the west. in early twenty's antigovernment protests started spreading across north africa and the middle east the demonstrations soon forced the resignations of tunisia's president. and egypt and president hosni mubarak. was. assad met the new u.s. ambassador to discuss the situation he was very nice i asked the president are you worried that the winds of change will come here. and he said he was not worried he said the syrian people strongly supported him strongly supported his government was the just two weeks later there was a large demonstration in damascus in a market called l. three on the it happened very spontaneously very suddenly it wasn't planned and it was imme

will syrians gathered on the streets of damascus condemned the strikes. we did not sleep at night we went to the street to support the army and the air force shot down the missiles we are strong and they've been attacking and conspiring against syria for eight years but syria is strong and you know. we were watching and we have footage we can say we feel afraid but we was sure that we were going to shoot them down. with syrian president bashar says the strikes have hardened has resolved to fight what he called terrorism in his country earlier in the day syrian state television showed pictures of him walking into his office in damascus spoke to the leader of iran on saturday president hassan rouhani said will continue to stand by syria but let's go there now and we're joined by a. professor of political science at the university of very good to have you with us on al-jazeera so we have of course heard from the iranians who are not at all happy about these strikes and but won't they respond and will they do so militarily do you think. i doubt very much if t

joining us live from damascus. thank you. explain now why because the british foreign office is invited to russia's ambassador to discuss the humanitarian situation in the syrian enclave of eastern ghouta occupied as was said by rebel and terrorist groups just outside the capital damascus leads to say we can now speak to the russian ambassador himself alexander joins me on the line good evening to you mr ambassador i would like to know first of all what were you asked to discuss with your british counterparts today. well basically the key question was the fulfillment of the real solution of the u.n. security council twenty four one we. of course you know will be disappointed with the statements of the secretary johnson when he spoke yesterday at the parliament and he blamed russia for humanitarian situation and we said this is directly straight straightforward to minister duncan but. the key question was of course the the situation on the ground because it's the whole of course there was allusion is adopted and we subscribed

comes from the town of their io near damascus. under siege since twenty twelve it's one of the towns that has been most affected by the violence. throughout the country syrians have been documenting the day to day were pression by their wishing . in twenty eleven these videos were the only way to expose to the rest of the world what was happening inside syria the regime had closed its borders to many foreign journalists amateur videos flooded the internet they've now become precious archives of history like this one filmed in damascus in november twentieth eleven. the secret police in action. no one dare even mention them the warrant mahabharat instills immediate fear. in this police state it's well known when the macabre take people away they will disappear. little ask eric and try harder lord all. he has banned they must call if he must have house as mr cornell can live with us here. or in him at all but i can with the press of canada press home of his forehead which is a thought about an hour less irrelevant as as it fell i kno

what is the strategy behind damascus sending the militia into the area? dorian: i think damascus is concerned by the turkish military operation. there had been initial hopes from their part this would be a small-scale operation clearing up the border zone in syria and possibly creating a border zone there and that would be the end of it. the message is this operation is increasingly expanding, with the message that they have taken over the syrian and enclave -- enclave of afrin. there is an alarm in damascus that the operation could be greater than they expected. there is an awareness they feel when turkey does military leak -- does militarily intervene, there is fear that turkey would have a long-term presence in syria, which would be a further peace stabilizing factor and a threat to the syrian regime. they do want to stop the operation and push it back, if possible. sarah: the turkish president, we mentioned hitting the airwaves, saying that pro-government convoy has turned back after turkish shelling. has the file been closed? was easily saving face?

want this autonomous kurdish region forming along their border there but what is the strategy behind damascus sending these militia into the area. well i think that's the mask is concerned by this turkish military operation there have been initial hopes from their part that this would be a very small scale operation clearing out the border zone in syria and then possibly creating a border zone there and that would be the end of it but the message from monk or is that this operation is getting increasingly expanding operation with a message to after they claim that they've taken over this syrian enclave of our friend they will expand it to parts of northern syria so there is a law in damascus but this operation could be far greater than what they expected and also there is awareness that they feel that when turkey does militarily intervene in its neighbors affairs it very seldom leaves certainly not in the short term so this is fear that turkey would have a long term presence in syria which would be a further destabilizing factor and a possible threat to the syrian regime so i think that they

after a surprise visit to damascus earlier this week iran's foreign minister said rebuilding syria is an opportunity for iranian companies but preserving life is still a priority of shadow it that it shadow it the conditions in it layup are sensitive we're trying to deal with the situation there and expel terrorists with the least humanitarian costs we had talks in turkey today and in a way also held talks in syria with the high ranking officials. want to use. of the three countries due to meet into iran turkey is the only one hosting large numbers of syrian refugees ungar a support some of the armed fighters in a globe and is worried a military solution will mean more displaced civilians now over the eight years of this conflict an estimated half a million people more than half a million people at least have been killed in syria a groups also estimate that eleven million people are either displaced internally or living as refugees outside the country so as these world leaders come together in tehran to discuss things like refugees returning and reconstruction the reality on the groun

solution applies only to damascus and to russia as if it all depends almost exclusively on the will of our country may i ask you what you have done to implement the resolution if any of you lifted a finger to use your influence on those who you consider the moderate opposition have you persuaded them to lay down their weapons and release hostages. who was playing with fire the one who was doing that was file is all it was providing weapons who is providing the scenario with fighting men think them who is providing media cover for them and trying to show that that what is happening is. a big must let go of innocent people what they care about is those whom they had supplied whom they had finances whom they had been breathing in the last few years and now they have lost the war but they don't have the same quotes to admit that they lost that water was do they just keep on bargaining and making all those claims the white house meanwhile has released a statement condemning the operation against militants in go to and also blaming russia and iran for supporting the syrian government. on thi

i think there's very little appetite on both damascus for part to have a full scale conflict i think they are aware of the major consequences and risks of such a confrontation but i think the risk lies here is of both sides are relying heavily on militias that have a long history of blood feuds for all the syrian civil war the risk is that these militias will start to fight and both sides will be then worn into supporting their evil side and that brings to calm the risk of both the massacres and forces facing off i think behind the scenes we know we've seen intense efforts by moscow moscow is supporting both the massacres but also. in its efforts to bring an end to the syrian civil war it will not even the risk of a confrontation between these two sides that this would derail its efforts to bring an end to the syrian civil war and give it an exit strategy behind the scenes moscow is saying. and damascus have to speak to one of them to resolve this of the moment neither side appears in any mood to do this all right daryn jones reporting and istanbul thank you. where in syria the rebel

britain and france launched military strikes on syria explosions rocked the capital damascus as missiles head syrian chemical weapons so it's become a response to suspected poison gas attacks that present from almost the crimes of a monster he's warned russia and iran to cut their ties to president bashar al song . i'm dr thomas thanks so much for being with us the united states and its allies britain france have carried out airstrikes on suspected chemical weapons facilities in syria now these strikes are in response to last week's alleged gas attack in the syrian town of duma which left dozens of civilians dead the german chancellor on the macro has joined other western leaders in voicing support for the strikes calling them necessary and appropriate huge blasts were reported around damascus moments after the operation was announced apart from the capital as far as targeted sites near homs which the u.s. are linked to chemical weapons production syria says about one hundred twenty missiles had been fired at its territory and that it had intercepted many of them the pentagon says the st

we've had roughly four people killed with fifty one people being injured by attacks launched against damascus from eastern guta so at this point the resolution was passed calling for a thirty day cease fire now after the unanimous vote we then heard from various countries we heard from nikki haley of the united states and she said she doesn't believe the syrian government will actually comply with the cease fire. it is critical that the assad regime and its allies comply with our demand to stop the assault on eastern guta and immediately allow food and medicine to reach everyone who need to all of us on this council must do our part to press the assad regime as hard as we can to comply we are deeply skeptical that the regime will comply but we supported this resolution because we must demand nothing less. now we also heard from the representative of the russian federation now he had dressed the security council and he emphasized that the fight against terrorism is not affected by this resolution that internationally delegated terrorist groups groups like al nasra i says that the fight against

>> these are people who have survived the seven-year war in damascus. the joke in syria are these events are sponsored by the ministry of spontaneous events. i saw this seven years ago this month where you would have syrian army literally shooting into crowds of funeral procession and the next day the celebrations on behalf of the syrian president all while he had gone underground. what you're seeing here again is this window thats are open where president assad with the backing of the russianss can can can spend the day now using syrian-state concan trolled tv to control a victory. >>> any video coming in from the ground from social media that appears to show something going wrong, something not going the way the pentagon told us it did. >> and when they go to this four-way split, you can can see the army or police are blocking off the areas. and yowl are arer see on the left is aleppo. it's pretty much in lock down. soethe journalists that are there are not able to get to it. you can be sure there's going to be strict control over these pictures. ther

down several missiles in damascus. right i'm going to get a stop what i'm saying now because we're going to go right to the pens again in washington and let's listen to what the defense secretary james mattis has to say. on april seventh the regime decided to again defy the norms of civilized people showing callous disregard for international law by using chemical weapons to murder women children and other innocent we and our allies find these atrocities inexcusable as our commander in chief the president has the authority under article two of the constitution to use military force overseas to defend important united states national interests the united states has a vital national interest in averting a worsening catastrophe in syria and specifically deterring the use and proliferation of chemical weapons last year in response to a chemical weapons attack against civilians and to signal the regime to cease chemical weapons use we targeted the military base from which the weapons were delivered earlier today president t