Syria has over 100 chemical weapons depots under control of new regime, watchdog group warns

Chemical weapons watchdog OPCW warns that the new Islamist regime in Syria likely has more than 100 chemical weapons sites under its control, holdovers from the deposed Assad regime.

By World Israel News Staff

The new Islamist government of Syria, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, has over 100 chemical weapons sites across the country, a watchdog group claims.

According to a report on Sunday by The New York Times, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), based in The Hague, estimates that over 100 chemical weapons facilities maintained by the defunct Assad regime were inherited by the new Syrian regime when it came to power last December and are still operational.

While Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on military targets across Syria — including those used to store chemical weapons — since Assad’s overthrow, the OPCW cites research by outside groups and satellite images of known chemical weapons sites to back its claim that a significant number of facilities remain operational.

Israel’s strikes likely did not “put a dent” in Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal, Natasha Hall, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told the Times.

The OPCW’s estimate comes after Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani made a surprise visit last month to OPCW’s headquarters.

During his visit, Al-Shaibani vowed that the new regime in Damascus would “destroy any remains of the chemical weapons program developed under the Assad regime.”

Deposed president Bashar Assad took steps during the early years of the Syrian civil war to disclose the extent of his government’s chemical weapons program and even to shutter some facilities.

Twenty-seven chemical weapon sites were identified by the Assad regime, which permitted OPCW teams to inspect and close down the facilities.

However, Assad limited his cooperation with the OPCW, and is believed to have used chemical weapons as late as 2018.

Raed al-Saleh, the chief of the Syria Civil Defense organization, told the Times that the efforts of his volunteer group to locate and dismantle Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal has been hampered in part by the Assad regime’s misinformation.

“There are many locations that we don’t know about because the old regime was lying to the OPCW,” he said.