Syria's Assad votes in former rebel town, site of chemical attack

A woman casts her vote at a polling station during the presidential elections, in Damascus, Syria May 26, 2021. REUTERS/Yamam al Shaar

AMMAN (Reuters) -Syrian President Bashar al-Assad voted on Wednesday in an election certain to extend his rule over a country ruined by war, casting his ballot in an ex-rebel bastion where a suspected chemical weapons attack in 2018 prompted Western air strikes.

The government says the election shows Syria is functioning normally despite the decade-old conflict, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and driven 11 million people - about half the population - from their homes.