Syria is working to identify and prosecute Assad-era officials responsible for a 2013 chemical weapons attack that killed more than 1,400 people, Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al Shaibani has said.
In a statement on Friday marking the 13th anniversary of the attack on Eastern Ghouta and Moadamiyeh in the Damascus countryside, al Shaibani said efforts were under way to bring those responsible to trial.
“Syria continues working to identify those responsible for the chemical weapons massacres, holding them accountable, and bringing them to justice,” he said.
He added that Damascus was taking practical steps to address the country’s chemical weapons legacy in cooperation with international partners, stressing that the accountability process would be carried out in accordance with the law.
Demanding justice
Every year on August 21, Syrians commemorate the massacre, saying it will never be erased from their memory and demanding accountability for those responsible.
This year, commemorative events are being held across several governorates, particularly in Eastern Ghouta and Moadamiyeh al-Sham.
According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, the Assad regime carried out 217 chemical weapons attacks against residential areas under opposition control after the revolution erupted in 2011.
