Statement on Saturday’s Chemical Attacks in Douma

For Immediate Release

WASHINGTON D.C., April 9, 2018 – On Saturday, the regime of Syria’s Bashar Al-Assad attacked the people of Douma in Eastern Ghouta with chemical weapons, described by direct observers as "the worst chemical attack yet."

Several reports from people inside Douma claimed that the chemicals were a mix of chlorine and sarin. Saturday's atrocities come just one year after the sarin chemical attack in Khan Sheikoun, which prompted swift and decisive action by President Trump to strike the airport believed to be the base for the plane that carried out the attack.

Horrifying pictures and videos from Saturday are now surfacing, showing mostly children and women who were hiding in shelters, gasping for air, foaming at the mouth, and dying slowly and painfully. The statistics on casualties continue to rapidly climb, while terror engulfs innocent civilians in the Douma area, and across all of Syria, as they brace for more attacks from the Assad regime and its Russian and Iranian allies. Saturday's use of chemical weapons is the latest tactic by the Assad regime to bring the people of Douma to their knees after years of siege, starvation, and bombardment, This follows a policy of forced displacement and demographic change that the regime has employed in multiple areas since the beginning of the war, including in Homs and Aleppo. Despite condemnations by the international community, no assertive action has been taken to stop these atrocities once and for all.

The Syrian American Council urges President Trump to follow through on his tweets Sunday morning, and to take immediate action against this tyrannical regime. We call on the president to work with Congress and the international community to enforce the Chemical Weapons Convention and to immediately stop the slaughter of civilians in Syria by grounding Assad's air force.

Media Contacts:

Bassam Rifai

brifai@sacouncil.com

973-954-0982

Michelle R. Taylor

michelle@exigentpr.com

312-919-2124