The Third World War- fortunately- is still a short wait. With a focused but short attack against largely empty facilities, three Western countries have especially wanted to make Bashar al-Assad clear that the Syrian president should no longer use chemical weapons in the future.
Three civilians and six soldiers were wounded in the rocket attack on military targets at Homs, Syrian state media reports.
While Russia is shaking things up by blaming Great Britain for staging the chemical attack in Douma, there is disagreement within the Western coalition about the extent of military action against Syria.
The Syrian air defense has shot 13 cruise missiles in the Damascus area, according to Syrian state television. The missiles would have been shot down near the place Al-Kiswah, just south of the Syrian capital.
America, England and France have attacked three targets in Syria dealing with the Syrian chemical weapons program, the US General Dunford has announced.
The United States, the United Kingdom and France have jointly opened the attack on Syrian leader Assad.
A first team of researchers from the United Nations arrived in Syria on Friday to see if there had been an attack with poison last weekend. UN chief António Guterres said this Friday and stated that a second team is expected soon in Damascus.
Syria, Russia and Iran must allow international observers and medical workers unhindered access to the site at Damascus where a suspected attack with chemical weapons took place on Saturday. NATO CEO Jens Stoltenberg said that Thursday. He condemns the attack 'in the strongest possible terms.'
German Chancellor Angela Merkel concludes that her country is taking part in military attacks on Syria. She said Thursday that Germany would do everything to make it clear that the use of chemical weapons is unacceptable.
The United States is conducting feverish consultations with France and Great Britain about military action against Syria. After the harsh words of Donald Trump yesterday, who warned that the 'missiles are coming', America has left the door ajar for a diplomatic solution. 'We study all options,' said the spokeswoman for the White House. But it is expected that the diplomatic door will be slammed quickly and hard.
The Syrian government army fully controls the city of Douma in East Ghouta. That says a Russian army official according to news agency TASS, which reports that the Russian military police are used to keep the order in its place.
Donald Trump commented on Russia's decision to shoot all possible US missiles from the air in Syria. 'Then get ready, because they are coming.'
The Russian army says that Tuesday approximately 2000 rebels of Jaish al-Islam, both fighters and their relatives, left from the Syrian city of Douma. According to news agency Interfax, 4000 others are ready to leave the besieged enclave in East Ghouta.
Employees of the United Nations in Syria can not confirm that chemical weapons were deployed last weekend in Duma, a devastated and surrounded suburb of Damascus. According to a spokeswoman for the World Health Organization (WHO), people who have had problems with breathing have been treated in recent days. Whether or not the health problems have anything to do with chemical weapons, the WHO could not determine on the spot.
The United Nations issued an alarm on Tuesday about 'a wave of displaced persons' from the Syrian enclave in East Ghouta. It is estimated that more than 133,000 people have fled the area within four weeks, where UN aid organizations still do not have access.
From our correspondent
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is trying to find out whether chemical weapons were used in the Syrian rebel enclave Douma this weekend. The organization says it closely monitors the incident and collects additional information 'from all available sources.'
While America and France are campaigning for military action against Syria, Israel has made use of the increasing tensions for an attack on a military base of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
Two buses with fighters from the extremist group Jaish al-Islam and relatives left the besieged enclave Duma on Monday after negotiations. According to Syrian state media, they go to Jarablus, a place on the Turkish border on the right bank of the river Euphrates that is not in the hands of the government.
A convoy with almost 7000 members of a rebel group, their relatives and other civilians, left from a besieged part of East Ghouta near Damascus. They travel to the northwest of Syria. That reports the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
According to activists, Russia has used incendiary bombs with a kind of napalm in air raids at Irbin in the Syrian region of East Ghouta. 37 civilians were killed in these attacks, especially women and children.
After an agreement with the Syrian government, radical fighters and their families with buses leave the rebel area of East Ghouta. Bus transportation from the city of Harasta started on Thursday, reported Syrian state press agency Sana.
The Syrian government and insurgents in an enclave east of Damascus have agreed on the evacuation of fighters to the northwest of Syria. This reported several observers. Buses are ready to transport the estimated 1500 fighters and possibly 6000 relatives from Harasta.
Extremists of Islamic State (IS) have extended their besieged stronghold in East Ghouta. With a surprise attack, they captured an area about 5 kilometers south of the center of Damascus in the night from Monday to Tuesday.
An air raid on Arbin in East Ghouta killed fifteen children and two women. That is what the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced on Monday evening.
The Syrian army has forced an opening from the place Hammouriyeh located in the besieged East-Ghouta region. Syrian media reported that a stream of citizens is fleeing the city.
A convoy of relief goods entered the northern part of the jihadist stronghold Oost-Ghouta on Thursday. The International Red Cross reports that the convoy consists of 25 trucks. Together they deliver 340 tons of food.
A convoy of relief goods is trying to reach the Syrian rebel city of Douma in East Ghouta on Thursday. Thousands of displaced families have sought a safe haven in that city, according to local authorities. Refugees are forced to sleep on the street.
Sick and wounded civilians have left the Syrian rebel enclave East Ghouta. An official from the rebel group Jaish al-Islam said that patients could leave Tuesday after an agreement was reached about a medical evacuation. They would be on a UN list with about a thousand people who urgently need medical help.
Russian military personnel say that 76 people, including 49 children, left the Syrian eastern district of Ghouta on Monday through a humanitarian corridor. According to a Russian monitoring center on the ceasefire in Syria, militants would have attacked civilians on their way to the corridor, killing five people, according to Russian news agencies.
