chemical attacks

A former British army officer who helped found the White Helmets volunteer organization in Syria, was found dead in Istanbul early Monday, Turkish officials and the group said. James Le Mesurier’s body was found near his home in the Beyoglu district by worshippers on their way to a mosque, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. The Istanbul governor’s office said...

In a corner of northwestern Syria packed with nearly 3 million people, the government and its opponents are preparing for a final, bloody showdown. The campaign for Idlib, the opposition’s only remaining stronghold in the country and now a refuge for over a million displaced Syrians, is likely to be the last major theater of battle after seven years of...

White Helmets volunteers trapped in southern Syria after the government seized areas they operated in said Wednesday they live in fear of being caught in the dragnet of the government, which considers them one of its staunchest enemies, and are desperately seeking a way out. Hundreds of the volunteer rescue workers — who have toiled in conflict-ravaged opposition areas for...

U.S. officials say the United States is finalizing plans to evacuate several hundred Syrian civil defense workers and their families from southwest Syria as Russian-backed government forces close in on the area. Two officials familiar with the plans said Thursday that the U.S., Britain and Canada are spearheading the evacuation that would transport members of the White Helmets group to...

Russia says the U.S. and its allies have relied on fabricated evidence to accuse the Syrian government of launching chemical attacks against civilians. Russia’s foreign and defense ministries also charged Friday that the international chemical weapons watchdog has failed to objectively investigate the alleged chemical attacks and is subject to political control. Maj. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the chief of the...

The Pentagon said Thursday a “preponderance of the evidence” indicates there were chemical weapons, including “elements” of sarin nerve gas, at the three Syrian sites bombed by the U.S. and its allies last week. Any definitive conclusion probably will remain an open question for some time. Marine Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said at a Pentagon briefing that the United States...

Assailants opened fire at a U.N. security team visiting the site of a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria, an official said Wednesday, forcing it to retreat to its base and further delaying a fact-finding mission by outside experts to examine the claims. Gunmen shot at the U.N. team in Douma on Tuesday and detonated an explosive, leading it to...

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine is demanding the release of a secret memo outlining President Trump’s interpretation of his legal authority to wage war. Kaine sent a letter Thursday night to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson seeking a 7-page memo the administration has kept under wraps for months.

Initial findings of an investigation prompted after several dogs were believed to be chemically burned revealed their injuries were not caused by an abuser but by the blistering sun.