Rif Dimashq offensive

Candidate for the post of President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Bashar al-Assad and his wife cast their votes at a polling station in the Municipality Council of Douma city in Damascus countryside.

Units of Russian military police have started to operate in the Syrian city of Douma, the head of the Russian center for reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria, Maj. Gen. Yuri Yevtushenko, said on Thursday.

Reuters - French President Emmanuel Macron said France has proof the Syrian government was behind the suspected chemical attack last week in Douma, but added that he would decide whether to intervene once all the necessary information had been gathered.

The Russian defence ministry said the Syrian regime flag was flying Thursday in the town of Douma, signalling that government forces had taken full control over Eastern Ghouta, AFP reported.

The 18th convoy carrying civilians and opposition fighters from the city of Douma in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta arrived in Aleppo's Al-Bab district on April 11, according to state-run Anadolu Agency correspondents on the ground.

(CNN) About 500 people may have been affected by a suspected chemical attack on Syria's rebel-held town of Douma, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

It was first reported on Tuesday that the Russian Black Sea Fleet was ordered to place its air defenses on high combat alert and prepare for an attack. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, this happened because of information that US warplanes were headed toward Syria.

The Syrian regime has drawn global outrage after claims it used chemical weapons in the besieged town of Douma in Eastern Ghouta on April 7 that killed at least 42 civilians, with Turkey also raising strong criticism.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Russian specialists had found no trace of a chemical attack on the Syrian rebel-held town of Douma, after allegations from the international community, AFP reported.

The chemical attack on a rebel-held town in eastern Ghouta killed dozens of people, a medical relief organization and a rescue service said, and Washington said the reports - if confirmed - would demand an immediate international response, Reuters reported.