:00:26. > :00:32.the world newsroom, we send our correspondence to bring you the best
:00:32. > :00:38.stories from across the globe. In this week's programme. The new
:00:38. > :00:43.allegations that chemical weapons are being used in Syria. The BBC is
:00:43. > :00:47.the first Western channel to reach the site of an alleged attack near
:00:47. > :00:51.by. Using video taken on the day and eyewitness testimony be tightly
:00:51. > :00:56.paced that piece together what happened. Filming started right here
:00:56. > :01:01.as the artillery shells landed, just on the other side of the building.
:01:01. > :01:09.deadly game of hide and seek. We join an Afghan operation against the
:01:09. > :01:12.Taliban are close to the Pakistani border. It's a crucial factor in the
:01:12. > :01:16.West's torture debate over whether to intervene in the conflict in
:01:16. > :01:20.Syria. Our chemical weapons being used by the government or its
:01:20. > :01:24.opponents? Both Britain and America have spoken of growing evidence the
:01:24. > :01:27.Syrian authorities are using them. Now the BBC has been shown evidence
:01:27. > :01:32.of an alleged chemical attack involving government forces that
:01:32. > :01:36.took place last month. Similar accusations have also been made
:01:36. > :01:44.against rebel fighters and both sides deny it. There are tough calls
:01:44. > :01:48.for new action against President Assad. We sent the first Western
:01:48. > :01:51.journalists into the town with the alleged attack took place. This is
:01:51. > :01:59.their exclusive report and some images in their report could be
:01:59. > :02:05.distressing. The war in Syria hangs heavy with tales of appalling
:02:05. > :02:08.violence, of massacres and abuse. But for Britain and America, its
:02:08. > :02:15.alleged chemical attacks that cross the red line and raise the spectre
:02:15. > :02:19.of foreign intervention. On the 29th of April, it came under attack from
:02:19. > :02:21.government military positions about five miles in that direction. Using
:02:21. > :02:26.eyewitness testimony and video taken on the day, we tried to piece
:02:26. > :02:30.together what happened. The filming started right here from this vantage
:02:30. > :02:33.point. As the artillery shells landed just on the other side of the
:02:33. > :02:39.building. It's a day that ended with what is claimed to be a chemical
:02:39. > :02:47.weapons attack. A local activist gave us this footage. He says it was
:02:47. > :02:51.taken as the shells landed. We can't verify these images but all the
:02:51. > :03:00.videos you're going to see were apparently taken on the same day by
:03:00. > :03:07.different people. And helicopter was spotted high above the time.
:03:07. > :03:10.Eyewitnesses allege at least two canisters were dropped from it. They
:03:10. > :03:19.say it was shortly after they landed that casualties started to arrive at
:03:19. > :03:29.the hospital. Eight people were admitted, apparently with similar
:03:29. > :03:38.
:03:38. > :03:42.breathing problems. The worst affected was this woman. A device
:03:42. > :03:46.landed in her garden. Videos appeared to show her unconscious
:03:46. > :03:53.with constricted pupils. Doctors who treated her claim she had signs of
:03:53. > :03:57.exposure to chemical agents. She died later that day. Her daughter
:03:57. > :04:03.was filmed nearby. The video appears to show her tongue distended. She is
:04:03. > :04:06.frothing at the mouth. Her sons were also on the scene and say they had
:04:06. > :04:14.to be treated, game they apparently suffered respiratory and vision
:04:14. > :04:17.problems and appeared to have constricted pupils. Muhammad is the
:04:17. > :04:27.eldest son. He says he tried to help his mother but she collapsed in his
:04:27. > :04:28.
:04:28. > :04:33.TRANSLATION: It was a horrible suffocating smell. You couldn't
:04:33. > :04:37.breathe at all. My body would become really tired. I would lose all
:04:37. > :04:47.senses and feel like I was dead. I couldn't even see anything for three
:04:47. > :04:51.or four days. We were taken to the house of one of her nephews. He
:04:51. > :04:56.showed us where the device was said to have landed. Samples have been
:04:56. > :05:01.taken from here and from the victims and sent to Britain, France, Turkey
:05:01. > :05:07.and America for testing. Later in the day, four patients were brought
:05:07. > :05:10.here to a hospital near the border. This doctor treated them. They were
:05:10. > :05:19.put through decontamination and given drugs to treat their symptoms
:05:19. > :05:23.but it was too late for this woman. TRANSLATION: The symptoms she
:05:23. > :05:28.displayed, unconsciousness, vomiting, they correspond to poison
:05:28. > :05:33.gas exposure and often much poisoning. It has many derivatives,
:05:33. > :05:39.one of which is gas. We have our doubts but we can't be sure until we
:05:39. > :05:42.analyse it. Her house is abandoned, the family too afraid to return. A
:05:42. > :05:47.British chemical expert has looked at the material and what happened
:05:47. > :05:54.here. He says there is strong evidence a nerve agent was used. But
:05:54. > :05:58.it doesn't show who was responsible. In cramped makeshift camps that
:05:58. > :06:03.shelter Syria's homeless families, the real issue is not how people
:06:03. > :06:08.were killed, it's a death itself. The inexorable tide of violence. The
:06:08. > :06:18.destruction of their country. And what they see as the indifference of
:06:18. > :06:22.
:06:22. > :06:25.From the conflict in Syria to Afghanistan now where Afghan
:06:25. > :06:29.security forces are preparing to take full control of the country.
:06:29. > :06:34.Foreign troops will remain in support roles after the handover is
:06:34. > :06:37.completed next year, but the local forces are they up to the task? We
:06:37. > :06:47.have been out with Afghan troops on an operation against the Taliban
:06:47. > :06:48.
:06:48. > :06:57.close to the Pakistani border. Under attack from the Taliban, Afghan
:06:57. > :07:00.soldiers respond with all they have. The Arsenal they now have includes
:07:00. > :07:10.heavy artillery that they can fire accurately from several miles away
:07:10. > :07:11.
:07:12. > :07:16.for the first time. And close range mortars. And, for the first time,
:07:16. > :07:19.Afghan officers are leading the fight with international advisers
:07:19. > :07:26.staying in the background. Although, at the height of this battle, US
:07:26. > :07:30.advice came with a hard edge as the Americans fired their weapons. At
:07:30. > :07:34.dawn the following morning, Afghan soldiers set out into the hills.
:07:34. > :07:38.Rather than waiting in their most forward bases in the mountains, the
:07:38. > :07:45.Afghan army are going forward hoping to attract fire from the Taliban so
:07:45. > :07:51.they can find out where they are. It is a deadly game of hide and seek in
:07:51. > :07:54.the high peaks on the frontier with Pakistan. And, for the first time,
:07:54. > :08:00.the Afghan army are trained to plot the ground accurately, coordinating
:08:00. > :08:10.by radio. The wider war is far better planned and controlled than
:08:10. > :08:12.it was. We were given exclusive access to the battle update briefing
:08:13. > :08:19.for the Thunder Corps, running the war across much of eastern
:08:19. > :08:27.Afghanistan. Behind the advance of the army, there are other layers of
:08:27. > :08:31.security. Checkpoints which are manned by Afghan border police.
:08:31. > :08:37.Their commander spent several years in London seeking asylum during the
:08:37. > :08:45.Taliban years, and now he's fighting them on the frontier. We are already
:08:45. > :08:51.strong. We reinforce the border. I'm sure that the Taliban can't do
:08:51. > :09:00.anything. Why should it be different now? They fought successfully
:09:00. > :09:05.before. What is different? I think today security forces are stronger
:09:05. > :09:10.because we have coordinated well. There is another layer of security,
:09:10. > :09:17.local militias have been given uniforms to defend their villages.
:09:17. > :09:22.They are taking significant casualties. One commander in a tough
:09:22. > :09:29.area says, when the Americans left, people were left defenceless. The
:09:29. > :09:33.general says is vital to support them.
:09:33. > :09:38.TRANSLATION: The police are the only defensive line on the border. They
:09:38. > :09:42.need support from the Army and we fight shoulder to shoulder. To widen
:09:42. > :09:45.the security zone, we are destroying the enemy 's bases. And we have
:09:45. > :09:53.meetings with the people to tell them to send their children to
:09:53. > :10:00.school. Back in the mountains, Afghan troops search houses in a
:10:00. > :10:06.remote village taking down Caliban flags. That Caliban. He says the
:10:06. > :10:11.Army now controls these mountains. This army can celebrate more
:10:11. > :10:16.victories on the battlefield than it could before. It faces formidable
:10:16. > :10:20.challenges, infiltration from across the border in Pakistan close by, but
:10:20. > :10:28.also the opus of these regions from car bowl and the failure of the
:10:28. > :10:32.central government to provide basic services.
:10:32. > :10:38.TRANSLATION: After 30 years of war, we need reconstruction, clinics,
:10:38. > :10:41.schools and roads but we will have nothing without security.