Tweet with a location 
 
 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - This image released early Sunday, April 8, 2018 by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets, shows a rescue worker carrying a child following an alleged chemical weapons attack... (Associated Press) 
 
 EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - This image released early Sunday, April 8, 2018 by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets, shows a rescue worker carrying a child following an alleged chemical weapons attack in the rebel-held town of Douma, near Damascus, Syria. Syrian rescuers and medics say a poison gas... (Associated Press) 
 
 BEIRUT (AP) — Missiles struck an air base in central Syria early on Monday, the country's state-run news agency reported, killing at least 14 people, including Iranians, according to a war-monitoring group. 
 
 Although the SANA news agency said it was likely "an American aggression," U.S. officials said the United States had not launched the strikes. 
 
 Israel has also struck inside Syria in recent years. The Israeli military had no immediate comment Monday on the reported missile strike. 
 
 The missile attack followed a suspected poison gas attack on Saturday on the last remaining foothold for Syrian rebels in the eastern suburbs of Damascus. At least 40 people were killed in that assault, including families found in their homes and shelters, opposition activists and local rescuers said. 
 
 SANA said the missile attack on the T4 military air base in Homs province resulted in a number of casualties but provided no specific figures. 
 
 The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war through a network of activists on the ground, said 14 died in the missile attack, including Iranians. 
 
 Rami Abdurrahman, the Observatory's chief, said most of those killed were either Iranians or members of Iran-backed groups. The Observatory says it wasn't immediately clear who was behind the attack. 
 
 Al-Manar TV station of Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group, which is fighting in Syria alongside the government forces, described the attack as an "Israeli aggression." 
 
 Earlier, President Donald Trump had promised a "big price to pay" for the suspected chemical attack. After the airstrikes were reported, however, Pentagon spokesman Christopher Sherwood said in a statement that "at this time, the Department of Defense is not conducting airstrikes in Syria." 
 
 The U.S. launched several dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian air base last year, after a chemical attack in the northern Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun killed dozens of people. 
 
 Saturday's suspected poison gas attack on the besieged town of Douma came almost exactly a year after the U.S. missile attack prompted by the Khan Sheikhoun deaths. 
 
 In response to the reports, Trump on Sunday blamed Syrian government forces for what he called a "mindless CHEMICAL attack." In a series of tweets, Trump held Russia and Iran, Syrian President Bashar Assad's chief sponsors, responsible. 
 
 The Syrian government denied the allegations, calling them fabrications. 
 
 First responders entering apartments in Douma late Saturday said they found bodies collapsed on floors, some foaming at the mouth. The opposition's Syrian Civil Defense rescue organization said the victims appeared to have suffocated. 
 
 The organization, also known as the White Helmets, and the Syrian American Medical Society, a medical relief organization, did not identify the substance used but said survivors treated at clinics smelled strongly of chlorine. 
 
 Those reports could not be independently verified because of a government blockade around the town. 
 
 Hours after the attack, the Army of Islam rebel group agreed to surrender the town and evacuate their fighters to rebel-held northern Syria, Syrian state media reported. The group also agreed to give up its prisoners, a key government demand. 
 
 The government agreed to halt its assault after three days of indiscriminate air and ground attacks. 
 
 "There's nothing left for civilians and fighters. We don't have anything to stand fast," said Haitham Bakkar, an opposition activist inside the town. He spoke to The Associated Press by WhatsApp. 
 
 More than 100 buses entered the town Sunday night to transport fighters and their families to Jarablus, a town under the shared control of rebels and Turkey, said Syrian state-affiliated al-Ikhbariya TV. 
 
 The preparations follow a pattern of evacuations around the capital, Damascus, and other major Syrian cities as the government reasserts its control after seven years of war. 
 
 Human rights groups and U.N. officials say the tactic amounts to forced displacement, a war crime. The U.N. Security Council planned to hold an emergency meeting Monday to discuss the chemical attack. 
 
 In his tweets Sunday, Trump called Assad an "animal" and delivered a rare personal criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin for supporting him. Trump has declared his intent to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria in the coming months, despite resistance from many of his advisers. 
 
 Bakkar, the opposition activist, said several bombs laced with chemicals landed in Douma Saturday night. Another activist, Bilal Abou Salah, said a large, yellow cylinder smashed through the roof of an apartment building and came to rest on the third floor and started to discharge gas. 
 
 Rescuers from the White Helmets documented 42 fatalities but were impeded from searching further by strong odors that caused breathing difficulties, said Siraj Mahmoud, a spokesman for the group. 
 
 A joint statement by the White Helmets and the medical society said more than 500 people, mostly women and children, were brought to medical centers complaining of difficulties breathing, foaming at the mouth and burning sensations in the eyes. Some had bluish skin, a sign of oxygen deprivation. 
 
 The symptoms were consistent with chemical exposure. One patient, a woman, had convulsions and pinpoint pupils, suggesting exposure to a nerve agent, the statement said. 
 
 The Observatory gave a higher death toll, saying at least 80 people were killed in Douma, including around 40 who died from suffocation. But it said the suffocations were the result of shelters collapsing on people inside them. 
 
 The Syrian government, in a statement on SANA, denied the allegations, calling them "fabrications" by the Army of Islam and a "failed attempt" to impede government advances. 
 
 "The army, which is advancing rapidly and with determination, does not need to use any kind of chemical agents," the statement said. 
 
 Russia denied any involvement in the attack. Maj. Gen. Yuri Yevtushenko was quoted by Russian news agencies Sunday as saying Russia was prepared to send specialists to Douma to "confirm the fabricated nature" of the reports. 
 
 Douma has been crippled by close to five years of siege by government forces. It was once one of the hubs of the 2011 Arab Spring uprising against Assad's government. 
 
 In recent weeks, government forces have recaptured villages and towns in the eastern Ghouta suburbs of the capital. Douma was the only town left holding out. 
 
 A 2013 chemical attack in eastern Ghouta that killed hundreds of people was widely blamed on government forces. The U.S. threatened military action but later backed down. 
 
 Syria denies ever using chemical weapons during the war and says it eliminated its chemical arsenal under a 2013 agreement brokered by the U.S. and Russia. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writer James Heintz in Moscow, Tia Goldenberg in Jerusalem and Jonathan Lemire in Washington contributed to this report. ||||| WASHINGTON/AMMAN (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump promised quick action on Monday in response to a “barbaric” suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria and made clear that all options including military action were on the table. 
 
 Speaking at a Cabinet meeting, Trump said he was meeting with military and other advisers and a decision would be made within 48 hours and might come as soon as the end of the day. 
 
 “Nothing is off the table,” he said when asked if U.S. military action was a possibility. 
 
 The suspected chemical weapons attack late Saturday night killed at least 60 people had been killed and more than 1,000 injured in several sites in Douma, a city near the capital Damascus, according to a Syrian aid organisation. 
 
 But two days on, the White House was still only able to say that the attack fits the pattern of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapon use. 
 
 Initial U.S. assessments have so far been unable to determine conclusively what materials were used in the attack and could not say with 100 percent certainty that Assad’s government forces were behind it. 
 
 “It was an atrocious attack. Trump said. “This is about humanity. We’re talking about humanity. It can’t be allowed to happen,” he said. 
 
 Asked if Russian President Vladimir Putin bore any responsibility for the attack, Trump said, “He may, yeah, he may. And if he does it’s going to be very tough, very tough.” 
 
 The Syrian government and its ally Russia have denied involvement in the attack. 
 
 International bodies led by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) were trying to establish exactly what happened in Douma, a rebel-held town in the eastern Ghouta district. 
 
 Britain and the United States agreed on Monday that the attack bore the hallmarks of previous chemical weapons attacks by Assad’s government but neither country gave details of what kind of chemical might have been used or how the attack was staged. 
 
 “The images, especially of suffering children, have shocked the conscience of the entire civilized world,” White House spokesman Sarah Sanders said. “Sadly, these actions are consistent with Assad’s established pattern of chemical weapons use.” 
 
 Trump said he was talking to military leaders and would decide who was responsible for the “barbaric act” - whether it was Russia, Assad’s government, Iran, or all of them together. 
 
 A day earlier, the U.S. president who had sought warmer relations with Russia criticized Putin by name on Twitter as he castigated Russia and Iran for backing “Animal Assad.” 
 
 Trump also said on Sunday after initial reports of an attack that there would be a “big price to pay”. 
 
 The United States fired missiles on a Syrian air base a year ago in response to the killing of dozens of civilians in a sarin gas attack in an opposition-held town. The missile strikes did little long-term damage to Syrian government forces and Assad’s position has only become stronger with Iranian and Russian support. 
 
 The stakes are higher for any new U.S. military action, with Trump explicitly mentioning Iran and Russia in connection to the weekend attack. U.S. intelligence has been unable so far to determine what was used in the attack. 
 
 U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Monday accused Russia of falling short on its obligations to ensure that Syria abandoned its chemical weapons capabilities. 
 
 MONDAY AIR STRIKES 
 
 The Syria conflict was further complicated on Monday when unidentified war planes struck a Syrian air base near Homs, killing at least 14 people, including Iranian personnel. Syria and Russia accused Israel of carrying out the attack. 
 
 Israel, which has struck Syrian army locations many times in the course of its neighbour’s 7-year-old civil war, has neither confirmed nor denied mounting the raid. 
 
 But Israeli officials said the Tiyas, or T-4, air base was being used by troops from Iran and that Israel would not accept such a presence in Syria by its arch foe. 
 
 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not mention Syria during a visit to the border with Gaza, scene of deadly clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops in recent weeks. But he did say: “We have one clear and simple rule and we seek to express it constantly: If someone tries to attack you – rise up and attack him.” 
 
 The incidents in Douma and Tiyas demonstrated the complex and volatile nature of the Syria war, which involves a number of countries and a myriad of insurgent groups. 
 
 Assad now has the upper hand in the conflict but any international action could delay his efforts to bring it to a close. 
 
 The U.S. State Department said on Monday that the Douma victims’ symptoms were consistent with those caused by a nerve agent but they could not confirm what had been used. 
 
 A child cries as they have their face wiped following alleged chemical weapons attack, in what is said to be Douma, Syria. White Helmets/Reuters TV via REUTERS 
 
 It urged Russia and the Syrian government to allow international monitors access to the affected areas. 
 
 The U. N. Security Council will meet on Monday to discuss the situation. 
 
 The U.N. human rights chief lambasted Security Council members for offering only “feeble condemnations.” 
 
 “A number of very powerful states are directly involved in the conflict in Syria, and yet they have completely failed to halt this ominous regression towards a chemical weapons free-for-all,” Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said in a statement. 
 
 Britain said it was working with its allies to agree a joint response to the attack. France said it would work closely with the United States on a response. Both countries agreed responsibility for the strike must be established, and Turkey also called for an investigation. 
 
 President Emmanuel Macron has issued repeated warnings previously that France would strike if proof of lethal chemical attacks were established. But Paris stopped short of apportioning blame on Assad’s forces for Saturday’s attack. 
 
 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said such allegations were false and a provocation. Lavrov also said the strike on the T-4 base was a dangerous development. 
 
 The Russian military said on Monday its medics had examined patients in a hospital in Douma and had found no traces of a chemical attack, Interfax news agency reported. 
 
 Syrian government forces had launched an air and ground assault on Douma, the last town held by rebels in eastern Ghouta, on Friday. 
 
 The Union of Medical Care Organizations (UOSSM) said at least 60 people had been killed by the alleged chemical attack. 
 
 “The numbers keep rising as relief workers struggle to gain access to the subterranean areas where gas has entered and hundreds of families had sought refuge,” it said. 
 
 One video shared by activists showed bodies of about a dozen children, women and men, some with foam at the mouth. Reuters could not independently verify the reports. 
 
 The OPCW, based in the Hague, said people were possibly gassed to death by a poisonous cocktail of sarin and chlorine. 
 
 Dr. Muhammad, a doctor in Ghouta quoted by UOSSM, said patients were coughing blood, a symptom not seen in previous chemical attacks. 
 
 Slideshow (10 Images) 
 
 U.N. war crimes investigators had previously documented 33 chemical attacks in Syria, attributing 27 to the Assad government, which has repeatedly denied using the weapons. ||||| Image copyright Google/DigitalGlobe Image caption A satellite image showing the T4/Tiyas airbase in central Syria 
 
 The Syrian government and its ally Russia have blamed Israel for a deadly attack on a Syrian military airport. 
 
 Monday's attack hit the Tiyas airbase, known as T4, near the city of Homs. Observers say 14 people were killed. 
 
 Israel, which has previously hit Syrian targets, has not commented. Syria initially blamed the US for the strike. 
 
 The incident comes amid international alarm over an alleged chemical attack on a Syrian rebel-held town. The US and France had threatened to respond. 
 
 US President Donald Trump said there would be a "big price to pay" for the alleged chemical attack in Douma, in the Eastern Ghouta region, near the capital Damascus. He branded Syria's President Bashar al-Assad an "animal". 
 
 Skip Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump Many dead, including women and children, in mindless CHEMICAL attack in Syria. Area of atrocity is in lockdown and encircled by Syrian Army, making it completely inaccessible to outside world. President Putin, Russia and Iran are responsible for backing Animal Assad. Big price... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2018 Report 
 
 But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said accusations that Mr Assad is behind the attack were a "provocation". 
 
 Moscow favoured an "honest investigation" of such incidents but opposed apportioning blame without any proof, he added. 
 
 Meanwhile, Ahmet Uzumcu, head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, expressed "grave concern" about the alleged attack. The OPCW is currently gathering information about the possible use of chemical weapons. 
 
 Could Israel be involved? 
 
 Syrian state news agency Sana, quoting a military source, reported that air defences had repelled an Israeli missile attack on T4, saying the missiles were fired by Israeli F15 jets in Lebanese airspace. 
 
 Russia's defence ministry said that, of eight missiles, five were shot down and three reached the western part of the aerodrome. 
 
 Israel rarely acknowledges carrying out strikes, but has admitted attacking targets in Syria dozens of times since 2012. Its heaviest air strike on Syria, in February this year, included targeting the T4 air base. 
 
 That followed an incursion by an Iranian drone into Israel and the shooting down by Syrian air defences of an Israeli F16 fighter jet. 
 
 Israel has said it will not allow Iran, its arch-foe, to set up bases in Syria or operate from there, something Israel considers a major threat. 
 
 The Israeli military said Iran and its Revolutionary Guards had long been active in the T4 base, and were using it to transfer weapons, including to Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah, an enemy of Israel. 
 
 They also said the drone had been launched from the base. 
 
 UK-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that fighters of various nationalities - meaning Iranians or members of Iranian-backed Shia militias - were among the 14 dead at the base. 
 
 Complicated equation 
 
 By Jonathan Marcus, BBC defence and diplomatic correspondent 
 
 This attack could be part of Israel's growing effort to contain Iran's military build-up in Syria and to interrupt the supply of advanced Iranian missiles to its Lebanese Shia ally, Hezbollah. 
 
 Any Israeli operation would have been closely monitored by Russian air defence radars in Syria. There is also a telephone hotline between the Israelis and the Russian headquarters in Syria. 
 
 So far Moscow has done nothing to interfere with Israel's air operations. 
 
 But the presence of Russia's air defences in Syria certainly complicates the strategic equation as Western governments ponder their response to the recent chemical attack. 
 
 Is there a connection to the Douma attack? 
 
 Mr Trump and France's President Emmanuel Macron issued a joint statement on Sunday vowing to "co-ordinate a strong, joint response" to the alleged chemical attack. 
 
 But US officials said America did not launch the overnight strike. 
 
 "At this time, the Department of Defense is not conducting air strikes in Syria," the Pentagon said in a statement. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption A short guide to the Syrian civil war 
 
 "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." 
 
 France also issued a denial. 
 
 Sana initially called the reported missile strike on the Tiyas airfield a "suspected US attack", but later dropped the reference to the US. 
 
 In April 2017, the US fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Syria's Shayrat military airfield in response to a chemical weapons attack on a different rebel-held town, Khan Sheikhoun. 
 
 What happened in Douma? 
 
 Medical sources say dozens of people were killed on Saturday in the attack on Douma, in the Eastern Ghouta region. 
 
 One video, recorded by rescue workers known as the White Helmets, shows a number of men, women and children lying lifeless inside a house, many with foam at their mouths. 
 
 However, it has not been possible to verify independently what actually happened, or the actual number of dead. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Unverified video shows children being treated after the alleged gas attack 
 
 The UN Security Council is expected to discuss the crisis on Monday. 
 
 Both Syria and Russia deny a chemical attack took place, and have reached an evacuation deal with the Jaish al-Islam rebels who hold Douma. 
 
 Moscow said military operations there had been halted. Under the deal, 100 buses are said to be moving 8,000 fighters and 40,000 of their relatives out of the battered town. Hostages who had been held by the rebels are being set free. 
 
 The development means pro-government forces have now taken full control of Eastern Ghouta. 
 
 Analysts say this is President Assad's biggest military success since the fall of Aleppo in 2016. It follows a weeks-long government offensive in which more than 1,600 people were killed.
– In what Syria's state-run news agency says was probably an act of "American aggression," missiles hit an air base in central Syria early Monday. Syrian activists say the strike killed at least 14 people, including Iranian citizens and fighters with Iran-backed groups, the AP reports. The US and France, which promised to deliver a "strong response" to an alleged chemical attack believed to have killed around 40 people in a rebel-held Syrian town, denied responsibility for the strike. The Pentagon said it is not currently conducting air strikes in Syria, but they "continue to closely watch the situation and support the ongoing diplomatic efforts to hold those who use chemical weapons, in Syria and otherwise, accountable." Israel—which has hit Syrian targets numerous times before, including the bases of Iran-backed militias—declined to comment on the strike, which hit the T4 base in Homs province, reports Reuters. On Sunday, President Trump tweeted that there would be a "big price" to pay for the "mindless CHEMICAL attack." The BBC notes that it has been almost exactly a year since Trump launched cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield after the Assad regime used chemical weapons on civilians in another rebel-held town—but this time, Russia has warned of "dire consequences" if the US intervenes. Sen. John McCain tweeted Sunday that Trump's pledge to withdraw from Syria has "only emboldened Assad, backed by Russia & Iran, to commit more war crimes."