Syria: US and Allies Working to Keep Chemical Weapons Out of Terrorists’ Hands
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Concerned that the recent toppling of Syria’s government will allow Islamic terror groups to fill the power vacuum left by ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad, the United States and its regional allies are seeking to ensure that chemical weapons accumulated by the fallen regime do not fall into the wrong hands, Axios reports. Assad notoriously used chemical weapons against his own peopl during the Civil War that has wracked Syria since 2011.
In a statement Sunday, following confirmation that the Assad regime had been overthrown, US President Biden said: “We will support Syria’s neighbors — Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Israel — from any threat that could arise from Syria.”
In a separate statement on Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken added: “We will support international efforts to hold the Assad regime and its backers accountable for atrocities and abuses perpetrated against the Syrian people, including the use of chemical weapons.”
A US official told media on Sunday that American intelligence experts believe Assad’s weapons, including chemical agents, have so far not been distributed among bad actors, Axios reports. “We are taking very prudent measures about this … We are doing everything we can to ensure that those materials are not available to anyone and are cared for,” the official said.
“We want to make sure that chlorine or things that are far worse are destroyed or secured. There are several efforts in this regard with partners in the region,” the official stated.