US Warns Assad: No Impunity for Users of Chemical Weapons

A road sign in Syria's Khan Sheikhoun. (AFP)
A road sign in Syria's Khan Sheikhoun. (AFP)
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US Warns Assad: No Impunity for Users of Chemical Weapons

A road sign in Syria's Khan Sheikhoun. (AFP)
A road sign in Syria's Khan Sheikhoun. (AFP)

The United States slammed on Friday the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, warning that it will hold him to account for the chemical attacks it had launched during the conflict that erupted in 2011.

“In January, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons found the Assad regime responsible for the chemical attack on Douma in 2018 that killed 43, just as it was for the chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun six years ago this week which killed nearly 100. There can be no impunity for users of chemical weapons,” the US Embassy in Syria tweeted.

“No amount of Russian and regime disinformation can refute the facts and the thorough analysis of expert OPCW investigators. We know what happened in Douma, Khan Sheikhoun, and elsewhere in Syria, and we will continue to seek accountability for those responsible.”

The government has repeatedly denied that it had used chemical weapons during the war.

In wake of the Ghouta attack in 2013, it agreed to destroy its chemical weapons arsenal under a Russian-sponsored deal.

Last week, the US imposed sanctions against two members of the Assad family for their role in the smuggling of Captagon narcotics.

The sanctions, imposed in coordination between the US and the UK, targeted Samer Kamal al-Assad and Wassim Badi al-Assad.

In 2020, 84 million Captagon pills were produced at a factory owned by Samer in Latakia, the US Treasury said.

“Syria has become a global leader in the production of highly addictive Captagon, much of which is trafficked through Lebanon,” said Treasury official Andrea Gacki.

The stimulant has spawned an illegal $10 billion industry.



Kurdish PKK Militants to Hand over First Weapons in Ceremony in Iraq

PKK militants in northern Iraq (Reuters)
PKK militants in northern Iraq (Reuters)
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Kurdish PKK Militants to Hand over First Weapons in Ceremony in Iraq

PKK militants in northern Iraq (Reuters)
PKK militants in northern Iraq (Reuters)

Dozens of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants will hand over their weapons in a ceremony in northern Iraq on Friday, marking a symbolic but significant first step toward ending a decades-long insurgency with Türkiye.

The PKK, locked in conflict with the Turkish state and outlawed since 1984, decided in May to disband, disarm and end its armed struggle after a public call to do so from its long-imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan, Reuters said.

After a series of failed peace efforts, the new initiative could pave the way for Ankara to end an insurgency that has killed over 40,000 people, burdened the economy and wrought deep social and political divisions in Türkiye and the wider region.

Around 40 PKK militants and one commander were expected to hand over their weapons at the ceremony in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah, people familiar with the plan said. The PKK is based in northern Iraq after being pushed well beyond Türkiye’s frontier in recent years.

The arms are to be destroyed later in another ceremony attended by Turkish and Iraqi intelligence figures, officials of Iraq's Kurdistan regional government, and senior members of Türkiye's pro-Kurdish DEM party - which also played a key role in facilitating the PKK's disarmament decision.

The PKK, DEM and Ocalan have all called on Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's government to address Kurdish political demands. In a rare online video published on Wednesday, Ocalan also urged Türkiye's parliament to set up a commission to oversee disarmament and manage the broader peace process.

Ankara has taken steps toward forming the commission, while the DEM and Ocalan have said that legal assurances and certain mechanisms were needed to smooth the PKK's transition into democratic politics.

Erdogan has said his government would not allow any attempts to sabotage the disarmament process, adding he would give people "historic good news".

Omer Celik, a spokesman for Erdogan's AK Party, said the disarmament process should not be allowed to drag on longer than a few months to avoid it becoming subject to provocations.