The head of the OPCW says the watchdog agency is mulling a mission to Syria to probe an alleged poison gas attack. The agency now has powers to assign blame — to the chagrin of Syria and Russia.
Image: picture-alliance/Xinhua News Agency
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The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is making plans to send a team to the Syrian city of Aleppo, where an alleged gas attack on Saturday reportedly wounded up to 100 people, the agency's head said on Monday.
Officials from the Hague-based watchdog had been in touch with the UN department of security "to assess the security situation on the ground for a possible deployment" of a fact-finding mission, Director-General Fernando Arias told a meeting of OPCW member states in The Hague.
He said Syria, which accuses rebels of having fired shells filled with toxic gases on three Aleppo neighborhoods, had requested the mission.
A health official in Aleppo has said the breathing difficulties, eye inflammation and other symptoms suffered by victims of the alleged attack were typical of poisoning by chlorine gas.
That mission found that Syrian government forces had used chlorine and sarin on several occasions and that the extremist group "Islamic State" (IS) had carried out one attack with sulphur mustard gas. Other rebel groups have so far not been officially found to have used banned chemical weapons.
Following Saturday's alleged attack, Russian warplanes carried out aerial bombardments of several rebel-held areas in northern Syria, the first time in weeks it has done so.
The rebels deny having used banned toxic munitions.
Missing in Syria: Lost but not forgotten
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Devastating conflict
Syria's civil war, which has its roots in initially peaceful anti-regime protests in early 2011, has killed several hundred thousand people. It has grown into a multi-party conflict in which Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, has assumed a considerable role.
The northern city of Aleppo was retaken by forces loyal to Assad in 2016. Rebels have stepped up shelling of the city in the past few weeks, despite a truce brokered by Turkey and Russia after the recapture.
Who's fighting in the Syria conflict?
Syria's civil war erupted out of the Arab Spring protests that swept much of the Middle East and North Africa in 2011. The conflict has since drawn in multiple warring factions from around the world.
Image: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images
War with no end
Syria has been engulfed in a devastating civil war since 2011 after Syrian President Bashar Assad lost control over large parts of the country to multiple revolutionary groups. The conflict has since drawn in foreign powers and brought misery and death to Syrians.
Image: picture alliance/abaca/A. Al-Bushy
The dictator
Syria's army, officially known as the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), is loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and is fighting to restore the president's rule over the entire country. The SAA has been fighting alongside a number of pro-Assad militias such as the National Defense Force and has cooperated with military advisors from Russia and Iran, which back Assad.
Turkey, which is also part of the US-led coalition against IS, has actively supported rebels opposed to Assad. It has a tense relationship with its American allies over US cooperation with Kurdish fighters, who Ankara says are linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighting in Turkey. Turkey has launched multiple military offensives targeting Kurdish militias.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/L. Pitarakis
The eastern guardian
The Kremlin has proven to be a powerful friend to Assad. Russian air power and ground troops officially joined the fight in September 2015 after years of supplying the Syrian army. Moscow has come under fire from the international community for the high number of civilian casualties during its airstrikes. However, Russia's intervention turned the tide in war in favor of Assad.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Tass/M. Metzel
The western allies
A US-led coalition of more than 50 countries, including Germany, began targeting IS and other terrorist targets with airstrikes in late 2014. The anti-IS coalition has dealt major setbacks to the militant group. The US has more than a thousand special forces in the country backing the Syrian Democratic Forces.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/A.Brandon
The rebels
The Free Syrian Army grew out of protests against the Assad regime that eventually turned violent. Along with other non-jihadist rebel groups, it seeks the ouster of President Assad and democratic elections. After suffering a number of defeats, many of its members defected to hardline militant groups. It garnered some support from the US and Turkey, but its strength has been greatly diminished.
Image: Reuters
The resistance
Fighting between Syrian Kurds and Islamists has become its own conflict. The US-led coalition against the "Islamic State" has backed the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias. The Kurdish YPG militia is the main component of the SDF. The Kurds have had a tacit understanding with Assad.
Image: Getty Images/A. Sik
The new jihadists
"Islamic State" (IS) took advantage of regional chaos to capture vast swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014. Seeking to establish its own "caliphate," IS has become infamous for its fundamentalist brand of Islam and its mass atrocities. IS is on the brink of defeat after the US and Russia led separate military campaigns against the militant group.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo
The old jihadists
IS is not the only terrorist group that has ravaged Syria. A number of jihadist militant groups are fighting in the conflict, warring against various rebel factions and the Assad regime. One of the main jihadist factions is Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, which controls most of Idlib province and has ties with al-Qaeda.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Nusra Front on Twitter
The Persian shadow
Iran has supported Syria, its only Arab ally, for decades. Eager to maintain its ally, Tehran has provided Damascus with strategic assistance, military training and ground troops when the conflict emerged in 2011. The Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah also supports the Assad regime, fighting alongside Iranian forces and paramilitary groups in the country.
