Syrian authorities have arrested a former colonel accused of overseeing the production of chemical munitions used in some of the deadliest attacks of the country's civil war, the interior ministry announced Wednesday.
Ahmad Habib Ali, a specialist in chemical weapons under deposed President Bashar al-Assad, allegedly managed sarin gas stockpiles and supervised the manufacture of roughly 20 sarin-filled bombs, each weighing 250 kilograms. Those weapons were deployed in strikes on rebel-held towns in 2013 and 2017, including the August 2013 attack on eastern Ghouta near Damascus that killed more than 1,400 people, and a 2017 strike on Khan Sheikhoun that killed 91.
The arrest is part of a broader campaign by Syria's new rulers, who toppled Assad in December 2024 and have since detained numerous former officials. A first hearing in the trial of Assad and key aides took place in April.