US warns Syria over chlorine gas attacks

Jim Mattis, the US defence secretary, said Syria would be “very unwise to use gas”, in a warning over alleged chemical weapons attacks in the battle to seize control of Eastern Ghouta.

Rebels vowed not to surrender to President Bashar al-assad’s forces under an intensifying assault on the Damascus suburb that has left 1,100 dead and split the enclave in three.

Mr Mattis told reporters travelling with him to Oman that he was “aware of the reports of chlorine gas use” but refused to say whether the US was considering retaliation, as it did last year after Syrian troops used Sarin gas.