Marking 12 years since Ghouta chemical massacre
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – Today, Thursday, marks the twelfth anniversary of the chemical massacre carried out by the former Syrian regime in August 2013, when dozens of missiles loaded with sarin gas struck the Ghouta region in the Damascus countryside, killing more than 1,400 people.
On Aug. 21, 2013, Assad regime forces launched attacks on towns in both eastern and western Ghouta — including Zamalka, Arbin, and Muadamiyat al-Sham — with missiles carrying the deadly nerve agent.
The assault claimed the lives of around 1,400 people, among them more than 200 women and children, while leaving over 6,000 others injured, according to human rights organizations.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the United States, and the United Nations held the Assad regime responsible for the attack. They confirmed the regime’s use of chemical weapons against its opponents in Ghouta.
The Syrian regime and its Russian ally, however, denied the accusations, dismissing them as baseless and attributing the massacre to provocative attacks by Turkish-backed opposition factions.