Damascus, Aug. 21 (SANA) Syria’s Emergency and Disaster Management Minister Raed al-Saleh said justice for victims and survivors of the 2013 Ghouta chemical attack and accountability for those responsible remain a firm priority.
Marking the attack’s 13th anniversary, al-Saleh said on X Friday that the massacre committed by the ousted regime was among the gravest violations against the Syrian people and humanity.
“Achieving justice for the victims and survivors and holding the ousted regime, its leaders and all those involved in these crimes accountable is an unwavering priority,” al-Saleh said.
He pledged that the names, faces and voices of the victims would remain present in Syria’s national memory, “far from denial and oblivion.”
On August 21, 2013, the ousted regime launched a sarin gas attack on Eastern and Western Ghouta in the Damascus countryside. According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, 1,144 people were killed, including 99 children and 194 women, while about 5,935 others suffered respiratory symptoms and suffocation.
Since liberation, Syrian authorities have pursued those implicated in chemical weapons crimes. The Interior Ministry has arrested several officers and officials involved in the chemical weapons file, including Maj. Gen. Adnan Abboud Halwa, Col. Ahmad Habib Ali and Brig. Gen. Khardal Ahmad Dioub, ahead of legal proceedings.
Syria has also reaffirmed its commitment to eliminating the chemical weapons legacy associated with the ousted regime to protect citizens and regional stability.
F.J./MF
