The Hague, Jan. 23 (SANA) The OPCW affirmed, in its fifth report on chemical attacks in Syria, that the deposed Assad regime carried out a chlorine gas attack on Kafr Zita town in Hama countryside in 2016, injuring at least 35 people and causing harm to others.
Targeting Wadi al-Anz
“There are reasonable grounds to believe that the ousted Assad regime air forces dropped at least one yellow pressurized cylinder on October 1, 2016. Upon impact, it exploded and released chlorine gas that spread through Wadi al-Anz in Kafr Zita, injuring 35 identified individuals, while dozens more were affected.” The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) stated in the report published on its website Thursday.
The OPCW Secretariat based its findings on the internationally recognized “reasonable grounds” standard used by fact-finding bodies. The assessment included information from the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM), statements from member states, interviews conducted by the investigation team, sample analyses, computer modelling, satellite imagery, frontline maps, video footage, documented photographs, and other relevant data.
Welcoming Syria’s efforts after liberation
OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias González welcomed the assistance provided by the Syrian government, marking the first cooperation by the Syrian Arab Republic after liberation with an investigation conducted by the Identification and Investigation Team.
He noted that these measures align with commitments announced by President Ahmad al-Sharaa during his meeting with the OPCW delegation in Damascus last February, representing a pivotal milestone and a meaningful contribution to the path of international accountability.
González stressed that the report provides further evidence of a systematic pattern of using toxic substances as weapons by the deposed regime against the Syrian people, noting that the report and its conclusions are now in the hands of the international community, the United Nations, and the states parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Crimes of the ousted regime despite the convention
The Chemical Weapons Convention entered into force in Syria on 14 October 2013, about a month after Syria announced its agreement to destroy its chemical arsenal. This followed international condemnation of the deposed regime’s chemical attack on Eastern Ghouta in August of the same year, in which sarin gas was used, killing more than 1,500 people, most of them women and children.
Although the OPCW announced in January 2016 the destruction of most of the chemical weapons declared by the criminal regime, doubts persisted over its continued production of such weapons. It used them several times, most notably in the Douma attack of April 2018, which killed dozens. The organization repeatedly confirmed in its reports that the regime imported materials needed for production and obstructed OPCW missions from visiting many sites.
On April 21, 2021, OPCW member states decided to suspend Syria’s rights within the organization, including its voting rights, after the OPCW confirmed the ousted regime’s use of chemical weapons in attacks on the town of Latamneh in Hama province in 2017 and in Saraqib city in Idleb province in February 2018.
Cooperation after liberation
On November 20, 2025, Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reactivated its permanent mission to the OPCW in The Hague. On February 8, President Ahmad al-Sharaa and Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani received an OPCW delegation in Damascus led by González, who affirmed that his visit marked a new beginning after 11 years of obstacles imposed by the defunct regime.
