OMM Redaksiyası
Syria has detained 18 suspects, including senior officers, over chemical attacks carried out under the former Bashar al-Assad regime, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said on Tuesday, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).
Speaking at a joint news conference in Damascus with Sabrina Dallafior, director-general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), al-Shaibani said the suspects were appearing before a specialised court.
Al-Shaibani said Syria had handed the OPCW more than 100,000 official documents and provided access to records and witnesses as part of efforts to address the country’s chemical weapons file.
He said Damascus acted in June to correct the declaration inherited from the former regime, adding a production facility, two storage facilities and munitions that he said had previously been concealed.
The process culminated in August with the destruction of 42 declared chemical aerial bombs under OPCW supervision, al-Shaibani said. He described it as the first verified destruction of its kind on Syrian territory since 2014.
Al-Shaibani said Syria regained its full rights and privileges within the OPCW on July 9. Discussions on Tuesday focused on a roadmap to bring the country’s chemical weapons file to a final close, he added.
He said that closing the file required justice for victims and measures to prevent further attacks. Mines, damaged sites and records concealed or destroyed by the former regime remained obstacles to establishing the full scope of its chemical weapons programme, he said.
Dallafior said visiting Syria had been a priority since she took office two months ago. Her visit included meetings with victims and trips to sites in the country.
She said securing any remnants of the Assad-era chemical weapons programme was a non-proliferation priority that would help protect Syrians and the wider region.
Dallafior said the OPCW and Syrian government destroyed a number of chemical weapons in July, calling the action a milestone and the result of successful multilateral cooperation. The organisation continues to investigate earlier chemical attacks and identify those responsible, she added.
Syria joined the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2013 after a deadly chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus. In 2021, OPCW member states suspended Syria’s voting rights and other privileges over its failure to address concerns about the use and declaration of chemical weapons.
After Assad’s government fell in December 2024, Syria’s new authorities pledged to cooperate fully with the OPCW and locate and eliminate any remaining chemical weapons and related materials.
In May 2026, Syrian authorities announced they had found previously undeclared remnants of the former regime’s chemical weapons programme, including chemical munitions and materials linked to sarin production. The OPCW restored Syria’s rights and privileges on July 9 following increased cooperation with the country’s new authorities.
