ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Sites containing concealed chemical weapons linked to the ousted Bashar al-Assad regime have been discovered in Syria, the country’s permanent mission to the UN-backed Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) announced late Tuesday. The mission added that the materials will be eliminated in a “manner that ensures the prevention of any risk to civilians, the environment, or national, regional, and global security.”
“Searches and investigations conducted by the Syrian Arab Republic have led to the identification of sites linked to the Assad-era chemical weapons program,” the mission said in a statement carried by state media.
While the statement has not underscored the exact locations of the sites, it noted that “all materials, munitions, and equipment were transferred to dedicated chemical storage facilities” following verification by the OPCW.
After the overthrow of the Assad regime in December 2024, the Syrian interim government led by Ahmad al-Sharaa “facilitated visits by OPCW inspection teams to 32 suspected sites and submitted evaluation reports concerning 14 additional locations.”
The deployment of chemical weapons by the Assad regime during the Syrian Civil War has been extensively documented and condemned by the United Nations as well as international human rights watchdogs.
The OPCW and the UN have verified numerous chemical attacks throughout the conflict. A widely-documented incident was in August 2013, when surface-to-surface rockets carrying industrial-grade sarin gas struck opposition-controlled suburbs of Damascus.
The attack resulted in more than 1,120 fatalities, according to data cited by the Chemical Weapons Convention Coalition.
Following the massacre, the UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 2118, which legally bound Syria to dismantle its chemical stockpiles under international oversight and prohibited any future use.
However, subsequent international efforts to impose targeted sanctions on Syrian officials, dispatch UN deployment teams, or refer the situation to the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) were vetoed at least 15 times by Assad’s ally, Russia.
Other verified instances of chemical warfare include an April 2017 attack where a sarin-filled bomb was dropped on the northern province of Idlib, and an April 2018 strike where a pressurized liquefied chlorine cylinder was dropped on the Damascus suburbs, killing more than 80 and 40 people, respectively.
Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have repeatedly stated that these coordinated strikes constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Of note, Mohamad Katoub, Syria’s permanent representative to the OPCW, said in an interview with Reuters that 18 individuals - including high-ranking military officers and technical experts - have been arrested and are under investigation for their alleged complicity in the Assad-era chemical weapons program.
“The Syrian Arab Republic reaffirms that these efforts are undertaken within the framework of its commitment to eliminating the legacy of chemical weapons, ensuring accountability for those responsible for their use against Syrians, and preventing the recurrence of such crimes,” the mission's statement concluded on Tuesday.