Syria: Eighth Anniversary of the Ghouta Chemical Weapons Attack

 Eight years ago, on the early morning of August 21, 2013, the Assad regime released the nerve agent sarin on its own people in the Ghouta district of Damascus, killing more than 1,400 Syrians, many of them children. The United States estimates that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons against the Syrian people at least 50 times since the conflict began. On this somber anniversary, we remember and honor all the victims of the Assad regime’s chemical weapons attacks.  

We continue to call upon the Assad regime to fully declare and destroy its chemical weapons program in accordance with its international obligations.   

The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms the use of chemical weapons anywhere, by anyone, under any circumstances, and we reiterate our resolve to ensure that there is no impunity for those who use these weapons.    

Just as there must be accountability for the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons, the United States strongly supports efforts to ensure accountability for the numerous other atrocities the regime has committed against the Syrian people, many of which rise to the level of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and we reaffirm our support for efforts to secure a political resolution in line with UN Security Council resolution 2254.