US President Donald Trump on Monday vowed to "forcefully" respond to an alleged chemical weapons attack on Syrian soil.
The US and other Western countries have accused the Syrian regime of conducting the attack, which, according to rescue workers, left at least 49 people dead and dozens more injured, including several children.
"We have a lot of options militarily and we'll be letting you know pretty soon … probably after the fact," Trump told reporters after a special UN Security Council session on the attack.
'World must see justice done'
The EU and Western countries on the Security Council blamed the attack on the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which is backed by Russia and Iran.
"If the red line [of chemical weapons use] has been crossed, there will be a response," French government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said.
Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, told the session that "the United States will respond" to the use of chemical weapons against civilians in Syria.
"We have reached the moment when the world must see justice done," said Haley. "History will record this as the moment when the Security Council either discharged its duty or demonstrated its utter and complete failure to protect the people of Syria."
'Fake news'
However, Russia's UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia was quick to deny that chemical weapons had been used in Douma. According to Nebenzia, Russian investigators were sent to Douma over the weekend and found no evidence that a nerve agent or chlorine had been used in an attack.
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The Russian envoy described the allegations as "fake news," saying it was intended to deflect attention from the UK's muddled case regarding the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, Nebenzia said.
Investigation ongoing
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said it had launched an investigation into the suspected gas attack in Syria. The global watchdog said it was gathering information on the incident through a fact-finding mission.
Despite denying the use of chemical weapons in Saturday's attack, Russia said it was ready to co-operate with the OPCW. Nebenzia said OPCW investigators should fly to Syria as early as Tuesday to investigate the attack, and offered them protection.
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A draft resolution circulated ahead of Monday's Security Council meeting suggested that Russia and the Western nations were proposing the creation of a new body to assess the blame for chemical attacks. However, the West objects to Russia's demand for the Security Council to have veto rights over the new body's findings.
Syria's civil war erupted out of the Arab Spring protests that swept much of the Middle East and North Africa in 2011. The conflict has since drawn in multiple warring factions from around the world.
Image: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty ImagesSyria has been engulfed in a devastating civil war since 2011 after Syrian President Bashar Assad lost control over large parts of the country to multiple revolutionary groups. The conflict has since drawn in foreign powers and brought misery and death to Syrians.
Syria's army, officially known as the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), is loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and is fighting to restore the president's rule over the entire country. The SAA has been fighting alongside a number of pro-Assad militias such as the National Defense Force and has cooperated with military advisors from Russia and Iran, which back Assad.
Turkey, which is also part of the US-led coalition against IS, has actively supported rebels opposed to Assad. It has a tense relationship with its American allies over US cooperation with Kurdish fighters, who Ankara says are linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighting in Turkey. Turkey has launched multiple military offensives targeting Kurdish militias.
The Kremlin has proven to be a powerful friend to Assad. Russian air power and ground troops officially joined the fight in September 2015 after years of supplying the Syrian army. Moscow has come under fire from the international community for the high number of civilian casualties during its airstrikes. However, Russia's intervention turned the tide in war in favor of Assad.
A US-led coalition of more than 50 countries, including Germany, began targeting IS and other terrorist targets with airstrikes in late 2014. The anti-IS coalition has dealt major setbacks to the militant group. The US has more than a thousand special forces in the country backing the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The Free Syrian Army grew out of protests against the Assad regime that eventually turned violent. Along with other non-jihadist rebel groups, it seeks the ouster of President Assad and democratic elections. After suffering a number of defeats, many of its members defected to hardline militant groups. It garnered some support from the US and Turkey, but its strength has been greatly diminished.
Fighting between Syrian Kurds and Islamists has become its own conflict. The US-led coalition against the "Islamic State" has backed the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias. The Kurdish YPG militia is the main component of the SDF. The Kurds have had a tacit understanding with Assad.
"Islamic State" (IS) took advantage of regional chaos to capture vast swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014. Seeking to establish its own "caliphate," IS has become infamous for its fundamentalist brand of Islam and its mass atrocities. IS is on the brink of defeat after the US and Russia led separate military campaigns against the militant group.
IS is not the only terrorist group that has ravaged Syria. A number of jihadist militant groups are fighting in the conflict, warring against various rebel factions and the Assad regime. One of the main jihadist factions is Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, which controls most of Idlib province and has ties with al-Qaeda.
Iran has supported Syria, its only Arab ally, for decades. Eager to maintain its ally, Tehran has provided Damascus with strategic assistance, military training and ground troops when the conflict emerged in 2011. The Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah also supports the Assad regime, fighting alongside Iranian forces and paramilitary groups in the country.
ls,tj/se (AFP, dpa, Reuters)
