The Syrian Network for Human Rights on Thursday published a report on the use of chemical weapons in Syria to mark the 2nd anniversary of the Assad regime’s chemical attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun in rural Idlib in 2017.
The Network said that it recorded no fewer than 221 chemical weapons attacks in Syria claiming the lives of at least 1,461 people, including many women and children.
According to the report, the Assad regime has carried out no fewer than 216 chemical weapons attacks since December 2012. It indicated that the ISIS extremist group carried out five other attacks, all in the province of Aleppo in the reporting period.
The monitoring group pointed out that the attack on Khan Sheikoun killed about 100 civilians and injured more than 400 others, noting that the majority of these attacks took place in the provinces of rural Damascus and Idlib.
The Syrian Coalition called for holding accountable those responsible for the use of chemical weapons as it warned against the consolidation of impunity.
The Coalition stressed that the Assad regime continues to commit crimes against civilians as the 2nd anniversary of the attack on Khan Sheikhoun coincided with heavy shelling on the rural Idlib causing dozens of civilians casualties.
The International Commission of Inquiry on Syria collected huge body of evidence on the use of chemical weapons, war crimes and crimes against humanity. It stressed that the evidence points to the responsibility of people at the highest echelons of the regime, including Bashar al-Assad himself.
Russia has used its veto power several times at the UN Security Council to disrupt the Commission work and prevent any international resolution condemning the regime and preventing the referral of Syria to the ICC. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
