Chemical attack in Douma, near Damascus; 3 carers say they were forced by Assad regime to give false testimony | LIVE

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Three NGOs called on the new government in Syria to take steps to preserve evidence of "atrocities" committed by the regime of ousted President Bashar al-Assad. This evidence, which is essential to establish the fate of tens of thousands of missing people and prosecute the perpetrators of abuses, includes government documents, intelligence archives and mass grave sites.

“The Syrian transitional authorities must urgently take steps to secure and preserve evidence of atrocities committed under the former president’s rule,” said the Association of Detainees and Disappeared of Saydnaya Prison (ADMSP), Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that anyone violating Syria's territorial integrity would be crossing a "red line."

"The territorial integrity of Syria must be protected, this is a red line for Turkey. We will never back down from this principle," he said.

The International Committee of Red Cross and Red Crescent (ICRC) launched an appeal for 130 million Swiss francs (around 139 million euros) to help five million people in Syria.

The fund will help the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) "provide vital assistance to communities across the country," the IFRC said in a statement from its headquarters in Geneva.

On the highway leading to Khan Sheikhoun, in the Idlib province of Syria, on Dec. 18, 2024. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient Today)

Seven years after the chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun, there is no trace of the massacre left except in the memories of the residents. L'Orient Today went to the scene, where some spoke freely for the first time. 

Read the full story here.

Two doctors and a nurse claim to have been “pressured” by Bashar al-Assad's leadership to falsify their testimony and deny any use of chemical weapons before international investigators after a deadly chlorine attack in Douma, near Damascus, in April 2018.

In an exclusive interview with AFP, the three caregivers who treated victims of the attack at a field hospital in Douma, near Damascus, also say they were interrogated by the security services. “They told me they knew where to find my family,” orthopedic surgeon Mohammad el-Hanach told AFP. “A pistol was lying on the table, pointed at me,” said emergency doctor Hassan Ouyoun.

Germany's head of diplomacy on Monday warned Turkey against escalating its conflict with Kurdish units in northern Syria.

A Turkish war against the Kurds in Syria “must not take place," Annalena Baerbock told German radio station Deutschlandfunk. “It would not help anyone” if the jihadist movement Islamic State (EI) "took advantage of a conflict" between Turkey and the Kurds, she stressed, adding that "it would be a danger for the security of Syria, but also for Turkey and for us, Europe."

This statement comes as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Friday for the “eradication” of terrorist organizations in Syria, citing the EI and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

A high-ranking Saudi delegation met Syria's new leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, in Damascus, a source close to the government told AFP. The meeting, which took place yesterday, marks the first known official contact between the Saudi government and the new Syrian administration.

The Saudi delegation discussed “the situation in Syria” and the eradication of the illegal trade in “captagon,” an amphetamine derived from a drug, with Sharaa, the source close to the government said on condition of anonymity.

Yesterday, during a visit to Damascus by the head of Turkish diplomacy, Syria's new leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, declared that all the country's weapons would come under state control.

The leader of the radical Islamist group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which dominates the coalition that toppled Bashar el-Assad in early December, said that after upcoming consultations with defense and army officials on a new military structure, “armed factions [would] begin to announce their dissolution and enter” the army.

Jordanian diplomatic chief Ayman Safadi is expected in Damascus to meet the new leader of neighboring Syria, Ahmad al-Sharaa, his Ministry has announced.

Safadi “will travel to Damascus today [Monday] and meet with the commander-in-chief of the new Syrian administration, Ahmad al-Sharaa, as well as other Syrian officials,” the Ministry said in a brief statement.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has affirmed its support for Syria's sovereignty after the fall of Bashar al-Assad at the end of a rebel offensive, while saying it has “no [direct] contact” with the new Syrian leadership.

“Our position of principle on Syria is very clear: To preserve the sovereignty and integrity of the country and to allow the Syrian people to decide their future without foreign interference,” said Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghai, adding that Syria must not become a “den for terrorism.”

Good morning ☕️  Welcome to our live coverage of events in Syria, following the fall of the Assad regime.