Germany calls Assad regime to destroy chemical weapons

BERLIN

German Foreign Ministry on Saturday called on Syria’s al-Assad regime to reveal its chemical weapons program and destroy all its chemical weapons under international supervision.

According to a Foreign Ministry statement, what happened in Syria was not an isolated event, where many people were "brutally" murdered and wounded, referring to the report of an international chemical weapons watchdog -- which confirms chemical weapon use in Syria's Douma region on April 7, 2018.

Germany will put effort to stop use of chemical weapons worldwide, including Syria, in United Nations Security Council next week, the statement said.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) released a report on Friday and said it found "reasonable grounds" that chlorine was used as a weapon in the Douma district of Eastern Ghouta, Syria.

The chemical attack took place on April 7, 2018, leaving at least 78 civilians dead.

Usage of the chemical weapons by the Syrian regime caused the withdrawal of the opposition from the region and forced the evacuation of civilians.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the al-Assad regime cracked down on protesters with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed and millions more displaced by the conflict.