At least 40 killed in missile attack by Syrian gov. forces
The shelling hit an open-air market and killed at least 40 people, anti-government activists said, while world leaders met in Vienna at a conference aimed at resolving Syria’s civil war.
There are conflicting reports about the attack.
As the day of discussions in Vienna got underway, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he was hopeful of finding a path forward. Friday’s talks in the Austrian capital included an Iranian delegation for the first time.
The sprawling suburb is a frequent target of government air strikes and barrel bombs dropped from helicopters.
At least 100 people were also wounded in the attack in the centre of Douma in the city’s east, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told news agency AFP on Friday (local time).
Previous efforts toward a diplomatic solution to a civil war that has killed more than 250,000 people and driven more than 10 million people from their homes have collapsed over the insistence of the United States, European powers, Arab states and Turkey that Assad agree to leave power. But she says that Assad mustn’t be allowed to remain in power in the long term.
Russia, a strong ally of Assad, began airstrikes in Syria on September 30, saying it is targeting mainly the Islamic State group. Russian Federation and Iran back Assad, while the USA and its allies want him ousted. On Oct.13, as government supporters gathered outside the embassy in a rally to thank Moscow for aiding the Syrian government’s military campaign, shells fell inside the embassy compound. Earnest said the forces will offer advice and support to the moderate opposition troops.
Participants described the talks as frank and intense, with only short toilet breaks.
Recently, Moscow has been holding intensive talks and meetings with a broad range of Syrian opposition factions, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, said a priority was to “fight more effectively against the terrorists” of Islamic State and al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front.