Syrian Coalition Condemns Gas Attacks on Daraya and Calls for a Probe

The Syrian Coalition condemns “the Assad regime’s gas attacks on the city of Daraya, rural Damascus, on Monday, January 13, and calls on the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to carry out an investigation into the incident. In the event of compelling evidence that the Assad regime has violated the latest chemical weapons agreement, OPCW and the international community should take firm and effective measures. The city of Daraya has been under siege by Assad’s forces for more than a year. The Assad regime dropped barrel bombs on the city throughout the past week. On Monday, January 13th, poison gas was used for the third time in Daraya. At least 3 civilians died as a result of the attacks, and more than ten showed symptoms of gas poisoning, according to reports and video footage coming from the area. The Syrian Coalition points out that “the Assad regime clearly aims to put pressure on the opposition. It intensively used barrel bombs on the city of Aleppo, two weeks before the General Assembly of the Syrian Coalition was due to vote on the participation in Geneva II. In a similar vein, the Assad regime used poison gas against innocent civilians in the city of Daraya on Monday, three days before the GA of the Syrian Coalition is set to take the final decision on attending the peace conference in Geneva II.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)