Syrian NGOs mark Assad regime chemical attacks

AZAZ, Syria

A group of Syrian NGOs on Monday launched a campaign to raise awareness of Bashar al-Assad regime chemical weapon massacres in Al-Bab, northern Syria.

The NGOs, led by the Syrian Media Association, launched a campaign on social media on the anniversary of civilians being killed by Sarin gas.

A 2017 attack in Khan Shaykhun took the lives of 100 people, and a year later in Douma, 78 were killed using the same weapon.

The group promoted the Breathe campaign with other NGOs, activists, and witnesses to chemical weapon killings.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Free Syrian Army Commander Hamza Barikdar said: "Some countries are making efforts to cover up these chemical massacres in the media and the political sphere in order not to hold Assad accountable."

"Despite dozens of reports condemning the Assad regime from the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons [OPCW], no judicial process has started against Assad," he added.

The OPCW determined after a nearly year-long probe that there are reasonable grounds to believe chlorine was used on the formerly rebel-held area, but did not attribute culpability for the attack.

The U.S., U.K., and France carried out missile strikes in retaliation for the attack, striking Syrian regime targets, including a research center in Damascus and what it says was a chemical weapons storage facility near Homs.

"The Assad regime must not repeat the use of chemical weapons in Syria. There should be no doubt as to our determination to act strongly and swiftly should the Assad regime use these weapons again in the future," they said in a joint statement.

*Writing by Dilara Hamit from Ankara