Syria arrests former colonel accused of chemical weapons crimes

Syrian authorities have arrested a former colonel they accuse of involvement in chemical weapons crimes under the government of ousted former President Bashar al-Assad. The Interior Ministry identified the man as Ahmed Habib Ali and said he was detained over allegations linked to sarin gas storage and manufacturing. Officials said the arrest is part of a wider series of detentions involving figures from the former administration.

Sponsored

The ministry said Ali was responsible for sarin gas storage facilities and chemical manufacturing within Unit 417, described as a chemical weapons site near Damascus. It also accused him of supervising the manufacture of about 20 bombs loaded with sarin gas, each weighing 250kg, which were used in attacks on Syrian cities and towns in 2013 and 2017. The arrest was announced on Wednesday, according to the supplied report, and came a week after Syria was reinstated into the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

The case adds to scrutiny of Syria's chemical weapons record, which has remained a central issue in international investigations for years. The watchdog stripped Syria of its voting rights in 2021 after finding that its air force used sarin and chlorine gas on its own people. The deadliest attack cited in the report was in August 2013, when the Syrian army was accused of gassing rebel-held areas and killing more than 1,400 men, women and children, according to US intelligence and rights groups.

At the height of the civil war, and under the threat of US strikes, Assad's government agreed to hand over its chemical arsenal. Despite that pledge, Damascus was later accused of four more sarin and chlorine attacks on opposition towns between 2014 and 2017. The arrest of a former officer now places renewed attention on how far Syrian authorities are prepared to pursue accountability for alleged wartime abuses committed under the previous leadership.