Washington Sanctions 18 Syrian Officials Over Chemical Weapons Attacks

The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on 18 senior Syrian regime officials connected to Syria's weapons of mass destruction program based on findings from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

    The department said investigations "found that the Syrian government, specifically the Syrian Arab Air Force, was responsible for three chlorine gas attacks" in 2014 and 2015. "In response to the reports' findings, OFAC is for the first time sanctioning Syrian military officials in connection with the Syrian regime's use of chemical weapons," the Department of Treasury said on its website.

    "The Syrian regime's use of chemical weapons against its own people is a heinous act that violates the longstanding global norm against the production and use of chemical weapons," said Adam J. Szubin, acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. "Today's action is a critical part of the international community's effort to hold the Syrian regime accountable for violating the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and U.N. Security Council Resolution 2118."

Source: QNA