US sanctions 18 Syrian officials for chlorine attacks

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The U.S. on Thursday sanctioned 18 senior Syrian officials, and five Syrian military branches, for the alleged use of industrial chlorine in attacks targeting Syrian civilians.

The decision follows the findings of a joint investigation by the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons that said last year Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces used the chemical as a weapon in cases spanning 2014 and 2015.

“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,” Adam Szubin, the Treasury Department's terrorism and financial intelligence chief said in a statement.

In addition to the 18 officials, the U.S. sanctioned five Syrian military branches, including the Syrian Arab Air Force, Syrian Arab Air Defense Forces, Syrian Arab Army, Syrian Arab Navy, and Syrian Arab Republican Guard.

Thursday's actions are the first time that the U.S. has sanctioned specific Syrian officials, according to the White House.

They include Maj. Gen. Ahmad Ballul, the head of the Syrian Arab Air Force and Syrian Arab Air Defense Force, Maj. Gen. Talal Shafiq Makhluf, the commander of the Syrian Arab Republican Guard, and Syrian Arab Air Force senior officials Maj. Gen. Saji Jamil Darwish and Brigadier General Badi’ Mualla.

Col. Suhayl Hasan al-Hasan was also blacklisted. The Treasury Department said he is "tied to barrel bombings in multiple locations in Syria, one of which coincided with a regime helicopter dropping toxic gas via a barrel bomb on a Syrian town".

The U.S. also slapped sanctions on seven officials with the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center, including Brig. Gen. Ghassan Abbas, the center's director.

The EU previously sanctioned Abbas for past chemical attacks, including the deadly sarin strike in Ghouta in 2013 that nearly brought the U.S. to war with Syria.

Bayan Bitar, whom Treasury said is the managing director of the Organization for Technological Industries, was also sanctioned. The organization is a "subsidiary of the Syrian Ministry of Defense that assists in the production of chemical weapons", the department said.

Assad's forces have faced repeated allegations of chemical attacks throughout Syria's six-year conflict.