According to The New York Times, Syria may have more than 100 chemical weapons sites scattered throughout the country
This information comes from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is trying to discover what remains of the military program of former President Bashar al-Assad, who was overthrown last year.
This number is much higher than Assad admitted during his rule.
These sites are said to have been used to research, manufacture and store dangerous chemical weapons, such as sarin gas and chlorine, which Assad used against rebels and civilians during more than ten years of civil war.
Since the rebels took power, no one knows for sure whether these places are safe.
Now, the new interim government, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and Abu Mohammad al-Julani, must deal with this problem.
HTS is considered a terrorist group by the United States, but says it no longer has ties to al-Qaeda.
The government has promised to destroy what remains of its chemical weapons program and to follow international law.
Why this is so serious
These weapons are extremely dangerous.
Sarin, for example, is a gas that attacks the nervous system and can kill within minutes.
Chlorine and mustard gas cause severe burns and fill the lungs with fluid.
If these weapons fall into the wrong hands or are not properly stored, especially in crowded areas, the risk is enormous.
What is being done?
Raed al-Saleh, leader of the White Helmets (a Syrian volunteer organization), said the former government lied to the OPCW about the locations of the weapons.
He is helping the new government find and deactivate them.
Nidal Shikhani, of the Syrian Chemical Violations Documentation Center, spoke to scientists from the former government based in Europe and discovered dozens of new possible hiding places.
Israeli strikes complicate the situation
Last year, Israel bombed several sites in Syria where it believed chemical weapons were stored.
It is not known whether the strikes destroyed the weapons or spread dangerous chemicals into the environment.
Experts fear that this has made it harder to find evidence of Assad’s crimes, such as the 2013 sarin attack in Ghouta that killed scores of people, including children.
A long-standing problem
Syria’s chemical weapons program began in the 1970s with scientists trained in countries such as Germany.
Despite the new government’s promises, international inspectors are wary, having heard similar promises before that were not fulfilled.
What’s next?
Finding and protecting these sites is essential for security and for gathering evidence of Assad’s chemical attacks, which have left thousands of victims.
The world is watching closely, hoping that the weapons will be destroyed and those responsible brought to justice.
Published in 04/06/2025 11h59
Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption.
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