New use of chemical weapons by Syrian regime in Moadamiyeh

The regime of President Bashar al-Assad has dropped barrel bombs containing unidentified chemical weapons on the town of Moadamiyeh, on the outskirts of Damascus, according to local activists and hospital sources. The chemical attack took place at 10pm local time on 22nd December. Moadamiyeh has been under relentless assault by the Syrian regime army for five days, despite an official ceasefire in the city. Local media activist Dani Qappani says that the regime aims to cut off the town from the neighbouring rebel-held town of Darraya, an objective which it has so far failed to achieve.

Following the chemical attack Moadamiyeh’s only remaining field hospital treated dozens of injured people. The hospital reported that the symptoms of the injured included runny noses and drooling, followed by nosebleeds, shortness of breath, vomiting, and involuntary urination and defecation. These were followed by spasms and suffocation in some cases and the hospital said that the chemical agent used was sarin gas. Activists said that the Syrian army’s 4th Division, which is led by Maher al-Assad, the president’s brother, was responsible. Ten people, including a baby, died of suffocation, according to the Anadolu News Agency. Videos taken by activists show injured patients unable to breathe following the attack:

The regime used sarin in its 2013 chemical attack on Moadamiyeh, Darraya, and other rebel-held towns around Damascus, killing over 1400 people. At the time, the United States said that the Syrian regime had crossed a “red line”, saying it would carry out airstrikes in response. It later called these off following a deal brokered by Russia under which Assad would give up his stockpiles of chemical weapons. While Assad apparently surrendered his stockpiles of sarin, his regime continued to use deadly chlorine gas against Syrian civilians with little reaction from the international community. This latest attack may indicate that the regime still possesses sarin, in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.

Qappani says that local activists contacted the United Nations office asking for investigators to be sent to verify the attack but received no response.

The humanitarian ceasefire in Moadamiyeh has officially been in place since 25th December 2013, but is regularly broken by the regime. The inhabitants of the city sought the ceasefire in response to a crushing regime siege which resulted in the starvation deaths of dozens of people. Following the ceasefire, strictly limited quantities of food have been allowed into the town by the Assad regime, and visitors are searched thoroughly to ensure that they do not bring in any more food than the regime is willing to allow. There is still no electricity or running water. Medicines have been prevented from entering the town and this has led to 16 children dying in Moadamiyeh, which currently has 44,000 inhabitants. The rebels present in the city all belong to the Free Syrian Army.

This chemical attack took place on a day when more than 60 people were killed by airstrikes carried out by Russia and the Assad regime across Syria.