Anadolu captures footage of Assad regime’s chemical weapons storage facility

By Ahmet Karaahmet and Asiye Latife Yilmaz

DAMASCUS / ISTANBUL (AA) - Anadolu has captured exclusive aerial footage of a facility in Syria’s capital, Damascus, that was once used by the now-removed Bashar al-Assad regime to store chemical weapons.

A member of the investigation team, who worked on documenting chemical weapons use in 2013 and requested anonymity, stated that the facility had remained a closely guarded secret for years. It was inspected by a UN team following the August 2013 chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta, as part of an agreement brokered between the US and Russia.

According to the official, the UN’s 2013 inspection confirmed that the Assad regime had stockpiled chemical weapons at the facility, which was among several storage sites. However, due to intense international pressure, these weapons were subsequently destroyed.

Aerial images revealed that the facility was located atop a high hill, surrounded by large mounds of earth, and appeared largely abandoned.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), which monitors human rights violations against civilians, has reported that the Assad regime has conducted 217 chemical weapon attacks on opposition-controlled areas since the start of the civil war.

Decades of atrocities under Syria’s Baath regime and the Assad family have left a lasting scar on the country’s history, with mass killings carried out using both chemical and conventional weapons.