OPCW Experts Planning to Start Activities in Syrian E Ghouta on Sunday - Source

DAMASCUS (Sputnik) - The experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are planning to start their activities in the Syrian area of Eastern Ghouta, where a chemical attack allegedly took place, a source in the Syrian government said Saturday.

Earlier in the day, the OPCW press service said the organization's mission had arrived in Damascus and confirmed their readiness to move to the site of the alleged chemical attack in Douma after the airstrike of the United States and its allies on Syria.

"The experts are already in Damascus. We expect that they will start their work in Ghouta, in the town of Duma tomorrow," the source told Russian reporters.

US President Donald Trump has announced the military action in Syria in response to the alleged chemical weapons attack Douma in the Damascus suburb. Washington, and its allies – France and the United Kingdom – fired missiles on the Syrian facilities, which they claimed were linked with chemical weapons production.

The Syrian authorities, in its turn, denied any involvement in any chemical weapons attack, and invited the experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to investigate the reports. The OPCW is set to launch its probe on the ground in Syria later on Saturday.

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According to the Syrian authorities, the western coalition fired over 100 missiles on the Syrian targets, however, part of the missiles had been intercepted by the Syrian air defense.