Syrian authorities arrest ex-officer accused of chemical weapons crimes

Syrian authorities have apprehended a former military officer identified as a chemical weapons specialist during the Assad regime. The Interior Ministry named the suspect as former colonel Ahmed Habib Ali and characterized him as a chemical weapons expert responsible for managing sarin gas storage facilities and overseeing chemical weapons manufacturing operations.

According to the ministry, Ali held supervisory roles at Unit 417, a chemical weapons facility near Damascus. He allegedly oversaw the production of approximately 20 bombs, each weighing 250 kilograms and loaded with sarin gas, which were deployed in attacks against Syrian cities and towns during 2013 and 2017. The deadliest such attack occurred in August 2013, when the Syrian military allegedly gassed rebel-held areas, resulting in more than 1,400 deaths according to U.S. intelligence assessments and human rights organizations.

The arrest occurs one week after Syria regained membership status in the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which had stripped the country of voting rights in 2021 following findings that the Syrian air force used sarin and chlorine gas against its own population. Despite pledging to surrender its chemical arsenal during the civil war amid threats of U.S. military intervention, Damascus faced subsequent accusations of conducting four additional sarin and chlorine attacks on opposition-controlled towns between 2014 and 2017.

Ali's detention represents part of a broader accountability effort following the collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024. Syria's judiciary initiated public trials for former officials in April, with charges encompassing war crimes related to the 2011 uprising and its violent suppression. Authorities have arrested dozens of individuals over the past months in connection with crimes committed during the 13-year civil conflict.