Chemical attack kills 40 in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta

EASTERN GHOUTA, Syria 

Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime carried out a fresh chemical attack Saturday in Eastern Ghouta, according to a local civil defense agency.

Regime forces struck targets in the Damascus suburb’s Duma district in a midnight attack using poison gas that left at least 40 civilians dead, the White Helmets said in a post on their social media account.

On Feb. 24, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2401 which called for a month-long ceasefire in Syria – especially in Eastern Ghouta -- to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Despite the resolution, the regime and its allies early this month launched a major ground offensive backed by Russian air power aimed at capturing opposition-held parts of Eastern Ghouta.

Home to some 400,000 people, the suburb has remained the target of a crippling regime siege for the last five years.

Earlier this month, a UN commission of inquiry released a report accusing the regime of committing war crimes in Eastern Ghouta, including the use of chemical weapons against civilians.