Syrian army linked to hundreds of chemical attacks

The Syrian government and affiliated forces have launched more than 300 attacks using chemical weapons during the country’s nearly eight-year conflict, a report said Sunday.

The findings by the Berlinbased Global Public Policy Institute offer the most comprehensive record to date of presumed chemicals weapons use in Syria, where the long war appears to be winding down.

The tally by the policy group also could be cited as part of any possible international war crimes cases against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The Global Public Policy Institute said it had “credibly substantiated” 336 uses of chemical weapons, ranging from nerve agents to crude but dangerous chlorine bombs.

Almost all the attacks were attributed to Assad’s military or allied forces, including loyalist militias known as the Tiger Forces that also have the backing of Russia. The rest of the attacks were attributed to the Islamic State, which once held major parts of Syria.

The GPPI analysis begins Dec. 23, 2012. The researchers said they based their findings on witness statements and post-attack analysis, including reports of the effects from the apparent chemical agents and how the weapons were delivered on the attack sites.

“The Assad regime did not merely ‘get away’ with its use of these banned weapons,” said the report. “It succeeded in using them for strategic ends.”

With Syria’s rebels on the verge of defeat and their former Gulf Arab backers reopening embassies in Damascus, Assad appears to be moving out of diplomatic isolation.

The United States remains a staunch opponent of Assad, although Washington holds little leverage over Syria. President Donald Trump announced last month plans to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria.

In the aftermath of a 2013 nerve agent attack on a Damascus suburb, then-President Barack Obama pulled U.S. warplanes back from the brink after a last-minute deal that was meant to see Assad relinquish his chemical stockpiles.

More than 72 tons were destroyed, but the attacks did not stop. The GPPI report said many of the subsequent attacks used chlorine, which turns into hydrochloric acid when inhaled. Exposure can damage the victim’s respiratory system, and can lead to death in some cases.

Trump has twice ordered military action against Syrian government targets in the wake of high-profile chemical attacks. There has been no recorded use of chlorine weapons in Syria since the last U.S. missile strike on April 14, 2018.

“The more we looked at the patterns associated with their use, the more we came to understand chemical weapons not as some special, separate evil, but as a key capability of the Syrian military as part of its broader campaign of indiscriminate violence,” said Tobias Schneider, who led GPPI research team.

Medical workers and first responders in opposition-held areas say they have treated more than 5,000 people for suspected chemical exposure since 2012. At least 188 people have died after chlorine attacks, according to estimates by medical workers and first responders.

In interviews with the Washington Post, doctors described the chaos they sparked.

“It felt like psychological torture; we just couldn’t keep up,” said one.