UN Security Council's adoption of resolution 2209 again confirmed that "the Assad regime used and continues to use chemical weapons against its own people," the Special Representative of the Syrian Coalition to the UN Dr. Najib Ghadbian said.
After the UNSC resolution that condemns the usage of any toxic chemical, such as chlorine, as a weapon in Syria, Ghadbian affirmed that despite the efforts to rid the Syrian regime of its heinous chemical weapons, it continues to conceal them and kill with them.
"Action, not words, is needed to prevent Assad from continuing his brutal slaughter," he said.
With every month that passes, Syrian regime forces launch new chemical weapons attacks, he added. "Last month alone, the Syrian Civil Defense documented two separate attacks (on 21 and 23 February) in Hayan and Haraytan by Syrian regime forces that resulted in civilian deaths." Ghadbian asked in the statement if the Security Council had properly enforced UN Security Council resolution 2118, these deaths could have been avoided.
Since the adoption of UN Security Council resolution 2118, he said, the death toll in Syria has doubled from 110,000 to over 220,000 people.
The Security Council has the power to impose globally enforced sanctions and other measures to ensure an end to chemical and conventional weapons attacks in Syria, he expressed. To date, "it has failed to exercise its authority," he said.
Now, as the conflict enters its fifth year, words are not enough, it is time for the Council to act, he concluded.
Forces of Bashar Al-Assad, the top leader of the Syrian regime, have been embroiled in fighting against various armed opposition groups in many regions of the nation.
The revolt had started as civil disobedience, before snowballing into full-fledged warfare that has claimed many lives and inflicted heavy and costly damage throughout the country.