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Trump calls out 'Animal Assad' for suspected chemical attack

FILE - In this March 20, 2018, file photo, President Donald Trump shakes hands with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. The Trump administration is signing off on selling more than $1.3 billion in artillery to Saudi Arabia. The State Department says the administration told Congress on April 5 that it plans to approve the sale. The package includes about 180 Paladin howitzer systems. The artillery-firing vehicles launch 155mm shells. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is condemning what he calls a "mindless CHEMICAL attack" in Syria that has killed women and children, though he's offering no evidence to support the claim by Syrian opposition activists and rescuers that poison gas was used.

Syrian President Bashar Assad's government is denying the allegations of such an attack on a rebel-held town near Damascus, the capital.

Trump says in a tweet Sunday that the "area of atrocity is in lockdown and encircled by Syrian Army, making it completely inaccessible to outside world." He says Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran — influential Syrian backers — "are responsible for backing Animal Assad."

>>RELATED: Syrian rescuers, medics say gas attack near capital kills 40

Trump is calling for the area to be opened "immediately for medical help and verification. Another humanitarian disaster for no reason whatsoever. SICK!"

Associated Press

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