Syria's Allepo is heavily damaged by prolonged fighting.

Syrian government forces last week attacked the rebel-held neighborhood of Douma in a Damascus suburb after failed negotiations. At least 60 civilians apparently were killed by toxic gas during the fight. The incident was immediately referred to the UN Security Council, triggering a war of words between the US and Russia.

Douma, one of the insurgents’ last strongholds in East Ghouta, has been used as a launch pad for attacks on Damascus over the past 6 years. Getting control of East Ghouta is vital for the al-Assad administration to end the civil war.

The alleged chemical attack came as the opposition was losing ground in Douma. Both the al-Assad regime and Russia say the allegation was contrived to deflect counterterrorism operations in Syria.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump was quick to criticize Russia and Iran for backing the Syrian government, which was accused of the attack. Washington has threatened to take action against the Assad regime with or without UN support. The American destroyer USS Donald Cook, armed with Tomahawk missiles has been deployed near Syria’s Tartus port and destroyer USS Porter is expected to arrive there in the next few days.

At an emergency UN meeting on Monday, Russia said there is no evidence of a chemical attack in Douma and asked the UN to conduct an onsite inspection. It warned of the grave consequences of another attack on Syria. Russia’s air defense forces in Syria are on the highest alert. Last year, the US fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Syria in response to an alleged chemical attack which killed 74 people in Khan Shaykhun town.

Analysts say that the US wants to use the chemical attack allegation as a pretext to topple President al-Assad and increase its own influence in the region.