Concern grows over chemical weapons used in Syria after Assad’s ouster

Deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against his own people during the country’s civil war, to the outrage and horror of the international community.

In 2013, the regime launched rockets carrying sarin — a fast-acting, toxic nerve agent — into the Ghouta district of Damascus, killing more than 1,400 people, including hundreds of children.

Images of young people choking and foaming at the mouth shocked the world.

Under the threat of US military intervention, Assad agreed to a Russian-American deal to give up Syria’s chemical weapons under the supervision of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

But even after the OPCW claimed it had destroyed Syria’s last declared chemical weapons, the United States and others believed the president had maintained a secret stockpile.

The Syrian regime was accused of dozens of other chemical attacks in the years that followed.

Who is the family of Bashar al-Assad, who ruled Syria for more than half a century

What happens to weapons

Now, the overthrow of Assad and the takeover of Damascus by a US-designated terrorist organization have raised concerns about the security of Syria’s chemical weapons.

The United Nations disarmament chief told the UN Security Council last week that Syria’s alleged destruction of chemical warfare agents cannot be fully verified.

On Monday (9), the Israeli army reported that it attacked chemical weapons production sites in Syria to prevent them from falling into the hands of extremist groups.

In a briefing with reporters on Monday, a White House official declared that the United States has “good faith” about where chemical weapons may be located in Syria and is working with its partners to destroy them.

Understand the conflict in Syria

The Assad family regime was overthrown in Syria on December 8, after 50 years in power, when rebel groups took over the capital Damascus.

President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country and is in Moscow after gaining asylum, according to a source in Russia.

Syria’s civil war began during the Arab Spring in 2011, when the regime of Bashar al-Assad suppressed a pro-democracy uprising.

The country was plunged into full-scale conflict when a rebel force was formed, known as the Free Syrian Army, to fight government troops.

Furthermore, the Islamic State, a terrorist group, also managed to gain a foothold in the country and came to control 70% of Syrian territory.

Fighting escalated as other regional actors and world powers — from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United States to Russia — joined in, escalating the country’s war into what some observers described as a “proxy war.”

Russia has allied with Bashar al-Assad’s government to combat the Islamic State and rebels, while the United States has led an international coalition to repel the terrorist group.

After a ceasefire agreement in 2020, the conflict remained largely “dormant”, with minor clashes between the rebels and the Assad regime.

More than 300,000 civilians have been killed in more than a decade of war, according to the UN, and millions of people have been displaced across the region.

This content was originally published in Concern grows about chemical weapons used in Syria after Assad’s ouster on the CNN Brasil website.

Source: CNN Brasil

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