An airbase in Syria’s Homs province was hit by “several missiles” in a “likely attack by the US” on Monday, according to state media reports.
The Tayfur airbase, also known as T4, is located in a strategic position between the cities of Homs and Palmyra, reports CNN.

Citing a military source, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said the attack had caused an unspecified number of deaths and injuries.

It said the airfield was targeted with several missiles. The Syrian air defence had responded and shot down eight incoming missiles, the agency added.

Video footage on social media in Lebanon showed aircraft or missiles flying low over the country, apparently heading east towards Syria.

However, the Pentagon has denied the Syrian claims of the airbase attack that comes hours after President Donald Trump tweeted “Animal Assad” would have a “big price to pay” for an alleged chemical weapons attack in the city of Douma.

“At this time, the Department of Defence is not conducting air strikes in Syria. However, we continue to closely watch the situation and support the ongoing diplomatic efforts to hold those who use chemical weapons, in Syria and otherwise, accountable,” a Pentagon statement said early Monday.

On Sunday, Trump said there would be a “big price to pay” after the alleged chemical weapons attack in the rebel-held city of Douma, which the US blamed on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

In a series of tweets, Trump also slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin and Tehran, saying “Russia and Iran are responsible for backing Animal Assad”.

It was not clear what retaliatory action Trump has in mind, but the issue is expected to be discussed at a “small group” meeting of the National Security Council on Monday, led by John Bolton on his first day as White House National Security Adviser, administration officials told CNN.

Last April, the US launched Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airbase after Washington and others accused Assad’s forces of perpetrating a deadly chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun that killed 80 people, which the Syrian military denied.

In Saturday’s attack, toxic gas inside barrel bombs were dropped from helicopters over Douma that killed over 40 civilians.

Images showed people, including children, apparently dead and injured with some kind of spittle or foam in their mouths in makeshift medical centres.

The authenticity of the images could not be immediately confirmed.

Survivors and activists share their stories of horror and shock after a chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta’s Douma.

By his third frantic dash down the stairs, with a wet piece of cloth over his mouth and a little girl in each arm, everything went dark for Khaled Abu Jaafar.

“I lost consciousness. I couldn’t breathe any more; it was like my lungs were shutting down,” recalled the resident of Douma, in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta.

“I woke up about 30 minutes later and they had undressed me and were washing my body with water,” Abu Jaafar told Al Jazeera on Sunday. “They were trying to make me vomit as my mouth was emitting a yellow substance.”

Abu Jaafar is one of the survivors struggling to cope with the effects of a chemical attack on Saturday in the besieged town of Douma, the last rebel stronghold near the Syrian capital, Damascus.

Rescue workers and medical staff have said at least 85 people were killed in the chlorine gas attack – an accusation dismissed by the Syrian government as “farcical”.

Among those killed, witnesses said, were many women and children who had sought refuge in the basements of buildings to escape heavy bombardment by pro-government forces.

Abu Jaafar, a radio station worker, said that as panicked residents started running around after the attack, he rushed to one of these hideouts to check on his friends and help get people out.

“While people were in the shelters, some on the roof managed to see the gas bombs as they dropped from the planes,” Abu Jaafar said, describing what he said was green gas emanating from the canisters falling from the sky.

“Those who saw them rushed to tell everyone in the basement to evacuate,” he added. “I went up and down the stairs about three times to help evacuate children from the building.”

Evacuation deals
The attack came on the second day of a fierce ground and air push by pro-government forces after a period of relative calm.

The Syrian army said the offensive was in response to deadly shelling by Jaish al-Islam, the last remaining opposition group in Eastern Ghouta, on residential areas in Damascus. Jaish al-Islam denied the allegation.

The group is currently in negotiations with the Russian army, a major ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, over a possible evacuation deal, according to reports carried by state media and pro-Syrian opposition Orient TV.

Last week, two other rebel groups reached evacuation agreements with the Russians, which resulted in about 19,000 people leaving for the northern province of Idlib.

They included fighters from the Faylaq al-Rahman and Ahrar al-Sham groups, their relatives and other locals.

Rebel groups argued that the evacuation amounts to forced displacement, but gave in after weeks of intense bombardment.

Meanwhile, remaining civilians continue to endure a bombing campaign and the effects of a crippling government siege that has been in place since 2013.

‘Unbearable scenes’
The chemical attack in Douma is the largest of its kind in Syria since April last year, when nerve agent sarin or a sarin-like substance was dropped onto the town of Khan Sheikhoun, killing at least 85 people.

Symptoms of a chlorine attack include dyspnea and coughing, as well as intensive irritation of the mucous membrane and breathing difficulties.

On Saturday evening, rescue workers posted videos on social media of people appearing to show symptoms consistent with a gas attack. Some appeared to have white foam around their mouths and noses.

Abu Jaafar said that those who did not manage to evacuate their shelters died instantly.

“There were basements in other buildings with people who didn’t see the gas in time. We entered those buildings and found bodies on the staircases and on the floor – they died while attempting to exit,” he said.

Although some Douma residents rushed to various medical points, a shortage of supplies and doctors meant that treatment options were limited.

Activists said that several of Douma’s clinics and ambulance teams had been hit during the bombardment campaign, largely disrupting the town’s medical assistance capacity.

When we arrived to the roof of the building I was helping at, I saw the lifeless bodies of a mother in her 50s, with two of her adult daughters and a child with their arms around each other, all foaming at the mouth
ALAA ABU YASSER

Local activist Alaa Abu Yasser was also among those who tried to help evacuate people.

“I went to a building where about 35 people had died as a result of this attack; the scenes I saw were unbearable, it’s like nothing I have ever seen even in the movies,” he told Al Jazeera, describing the aftermath of the attack.

“As I approached the building, a father was crying hysterically as he dragged his feet towards us carrying his two children … he was hugging them, smelling and kissing them after they suffocated to death,” Abu Yasser added.

Several witnesses speaking to Al Jazeera said that during a chemical attack it is common practice for people to rush to the top floors and on the roofs of buildings in a bid to avoid inhaling the gas that tends to “stick to the ground”.

“When we arrived to the roof of the building I was helping at, I saw the lifeless bodies of a mother in her 50s, with two of her adult daughters and a child with their arms around each other, all foaming at the mouth,” said Abu Yasser.

“I mostly saw bodies of women and children in three separate rooms; they’ve been placed there to isolate the smell of the gas from those who survived,” he added.

Although the White Helmets, a group of rescuers operating in opposition-held areas in Syria, and Syrian American Medical Society have given a death toll of at least 85, there are fears that the number of people killed in the attack could be higher.

“The rescue teams have not been able to document all the cases,” local activist Mansour Abu al-Khair told Al Jazeera. “They’re overwhelmed and cannot deal with the impact of the attack.”

He explained many of those who lost their lives were still under destroyed buildings and have not yet been pulled from the rubble.

“Others are instantly being buried by their families, so they aren’t accounted for in terms of registered numbers,” al-Khair said.

“We expect the death toll to surpass 100,” he added.

Aljazeera

A fire broke out on the 50th floor of Trump Tower here, leaving one person dead and six firefighters injured, the New York City Fire Department said today. It said a 67-year-old man, identified as Todd Brassner, was found “unconscious and unresponsive” when firefighters arrived at the scene of the fire.

Brassner, a resident of the 50th floor of Trump Tower, was rushed to a hospital in critical condition but later died, Fire Department spokeswoman Angelica Conroy said. The medical examiner’s office will determine the cause of death, CNN reported.

The fire was contained to the 50th floor of the tower, located on Fifth Avenue in New York. It was ruled under control around 9 p.m. (local time), two hours after it was originally reported, the FDNY tweeted. It also tweeted pictures of the building with several windows of the 50th floor ablaze.

Six firefighters suffered injuries that are not life threatening, Conroy was quoted as saying by the channel. No members of the Trump family were at the tower during the fire, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said. President Donald Trump congratulated firefighters and tweeted that the fire was out.

“Fire at Trump Tower is out. Very confined (well built building). Firemen (and women) did a great job. THANK YOU!,” Trump tweeted. Before moving to the White House in January last year, Trump and the first lady lived in the triplex penthouse apartment, which occupies sections of floors 56-58, according to Forbes.

The apartments are listed on floors 66-68, although the building is technically only 58 stories. The headquarters of the Trump Organisation are on the 26th floor of the skyscraper.

The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces during protests in the Gaza Strip has climbed to 10 while over 1,000 others were wounded by bullets, Palestinian officials said on Saturday.

The incident occurred on Friday when the Israeli Army opened fire on protesters near the border with Israel, Efe news reported. Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al Qedra confirmed that 10 people had died during the clashes. He added that 1,354 people were wounded, including 491 by ammunition and explosives.

The so-called “March of Return” campaign convened by Palestinian factions in Gaza started on March 30 with demonstrations, marches and sit-ins near the border with Israel. Since then, 32 Palestinians have died in the Gaza Strip.

The six-week protest campaign to mark Land Day, is an annual commemoration of a 1976 protest against Israeli confiscation of Arab-owned land.

Israel deployed snipers along the border fence and warned it would not allow anyone to cross or approach, or put the security of its citizens in danger.

On Friday, about 20,000 Palestinians participated in protests dubbed the “Friday of Tires” at the border, according to the Israeli Army. It accused the protesters of “terrorist acts” such as launching explosives and incendiary objects and damaging a security fence.

Meanwhile, the UN human rights office deplored the reported use of “excessive force” by Israeli soldiers during the March 30 protests in Gaza, where at least 16 people were killed and more than 1,000 others injured.

Friday’s protest, however, was smaller in scale than that of last week, which was estimated to bring together about 30,000 Palestinians.

China warned on Friday it will counter tariff measures by the US even though it might lead to a trade war between the two countries.

If the US continued its protectionism despite opposition from China and the international community, China would fight to the end to “protect the interests of the country and the people”, China’s Commerce Ministry said in a statemen.

“We don’t want a trade war, but we are not afraid of such a war,” according to the statement cited by Efe news.

The statement came in response to US President Donald Trump’s announcement on Thursday that Washington was considering the imposition of $100 billion tariffs on China apart from an earlier one of $50 billion on hundreds of Chinese products.

After criticising the protectionism against free trade under Trump, China stressed it would continue to reform and open up while safeguarding multilateral trade and promoting global investment.

China, as per its earlier warnings, also formally complained against the US at the World Trade Organization over duties on Chinese products, claiming they exceeded US-bound rates and violated the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

As tension grew between the two economic powerhouses, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres insisted on the need for dialogue on Friday, a few hours before he was scheduled to travel to China to take part in the Boao Forum, dubbed as the “Asian Davos”.

On Tuesday, the office of the US Trade Representative published a list of 1,300 Chinese products on which it sought to impose tariffs.

Hours later, China announced 25 per cent tariffs on 106 products worth $50 billion imported from the US.

(IANS)

US President Donald Trump has officially signed a memorandum to deploy the National Guard to the country’s border with Mexico, a move that followed days of him calling for a larger crackdown on illegal immigration.

In the memo signed on Wednesday evening, Trump declared that Defence Secretary James Mattis “shall request use of National Guard personnel” to secure the border and that Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen will work with him to train and direct the troops in that mission.

Key details like the numbers of troops, how long they will be deployed, how much it will cost and where they will go are still being finalised, CNN reported.

“Despite a number of steps this administration has taken… we continue to see unacceptable levels of illegal drugs, dangerous gang activity, transnational criminal organisations and illegal immigration flow across our border,” Nielsen said, adding that troops could be sent to the border “immediately”.

The move followed days of public fuming by Trump about immigration policy, during which he tweeted about immigration legislation in Congress, a caravan of migrants making its way through Mexico and what he called “weak border laws”.

He tweeted earlier on Wednesday that he would “be taking strong action” on the Mexico border, a day after he said that he wants to send the military to secure it until a wall was built.

Nielsen cited a historic uptick in border crossings in spring months like April and advertising from smuggling groups as reasons for the move, calling it in part “anticipating”.

“Why not yesterday and tomorrow? Today is the day we want to start this process,” she said. “The threat is real.”

“We will not allow illegal immigration levels to become the norm… More than 1,000 people a day, 300,000 a year violating our sovereignty as a nation will never be acceptable to this President,” she said.

The memo instructed the two secretaries and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to put together a report within 30 days on further steps the administration can take to combat what it called a “crisis” and “a drastic surge of illegal activity on the southern border”.

Meanwhile, the Mexican Senate “categorically” rejected the US move and said that deploying Army troops or the National Guard in the region would be “yet another wrong” against the Mexican community.

The letter, signed by Mexican Senate President Ernesto Cordero, called on the Mexican government to suspend bilateral cooperation in immigration matters and the fight against organised crime until “Trump behaves with civility and shows respect to Mexico”.

UN chief Antonio Guterres is “very concerned” over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and wants all member states to protect their civilians, his spokesperson has said. His remarks came after Indian security forces on Sunday gunned down 13 militants in three counter-insurgency operations that also claimed the lives of three Army jawans and four civilians in Anantnag and Shopian districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

“The Secretary-General is, indeed, very concerned about the situation that we’ve seen in Jammu and Kashmir. He reminds that Member States are responsible under international humanitarian law to protect civilians,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, told reporters here at his daily press briefing yesterday.

He said the Secretary-General reiterated his call on nations to find ways to address disputes in a peaceful manner. He added that civilians need to be protected wherever they are, “whether it’s in Gaza, whether it’s in Jammu and Kashmir, or whether it’s in Yemen. It’s a basic principle of this organisation.”

When asked if the Secretary General is calling for an investigation into the matter, Dujarric said “any loss of civilians needs to be investigated wherever they occur”.

Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud held a telephonic conversation with US President Donald Trump in which he said that it is necessary for the international community to move forward the Middle East peace process.

According to a Saudi Press Agency report on Tuesday, the Saudi king on Monday evening reaffirmed the kingdom’s steadfast position on the Palestinian cause and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

The conversation came amid rising tensions between Israel and the Palestinians following the bloody clashes in the past days near the Israeli border with Gaza Strip that have left at least 15 Palestinian protesters dead and 1,200 others injured.

The Saudi king expressed his appreciation for a statement issued by the White House on its strong stance towards the Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen.

The Houthi militias have stepped up their attacks on Saudi targets by firing missiles at the kingdom in retaliation for the Saudi-led Arab coalition’s airstrikes in Yemen.

The Saudi leader also pledged to make efforts to find a political solution to the Yemeni crisis and provide humanitarian aid to its people.

At the same time, the two leaders underlined the importance of the achievements of the concerted international efforts to fight terrorist organisations in Iraq and Syria.

An air strike by Saudi-led coalition near Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hodeidah killed at least 14 civilians, including seven children, medics and witnesses say.

A Saudi-led coalition air strike has killed at least 14 civilians, including seven children in Yemen.

The missiles hit a housing compound in the rebel-held city of Hodeidah.

China has slapped new tariffs on 128 US products, including pork and fruits, worth about $3 billion in response to the duties on imports of steel and aluminium imposed by the Trump administration, its Ministry of Commerce said on Monday.

The ministry said the central Cabinet has decided to impose a tariff of 15% on 120 American products, including fruits and related products, and a tariff of 25% on eight items, including pork and related products, imported from the US.

The decision was a “countermeasure” in response to the US move to slap tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, it said in a statement.

US President Donald Trump had on March 23 signed a memorandum that could impose tariffs up to $60 billions on imports from China and restrictions on Chinese investment in America.

China’s Ministry of Commerce had announced last week that it was considering suspending tariff concessions on 128 categories of US products, including pork, wine and seamless steel tubes, worth $3 billion, according to a report by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

The ministry on Monday said China advocates and supports a multilateral trade system, but suspending tariff concession on the US imports was a “just move” to safeguard the country’s interests using the Word Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

Although in violation of the WTO rules, the US measure, which came into effect from March 23, has severely undermined China’s interests, the statement said.

Despite worldwide objections, the US decided to impose a 25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% tariff on aluminium from many countries, including China, the Xinhua reported.

China is keeping big-ticket items like soybeans, sorghum and Boeing airplanes for heavy tariffs to counter Trump’s imposing tariffs on Chinese products to reduce about $375 billion trade deficit between the two countries.

After signing the memorandum, Trump had asked China to immediately cut trade deficit by $100 billion.

The memorandum is based on the Section 301 investigation into alleged Chinese intellectual property and technology transfer practices, launched by the Trump administration in August 2017, according to the report.