Syrian authorities have arrested former colonel Ahmed Habib Ali, accusing him of supervising the manufacture of sarin gas bombs during the regime of ousted President Bashar al-Assad. The Interior Ministry identified Ali as a chemical weapons expert responsible for sarin gas storage and production at Unit 417, a chemical weapons site near Damascus.

According to the ministry, Ali supervised the manufacture of approximately 20 sarin gas bombs, each weighing around 250 kilograms (550 pounds), which were deployed in attacks on Syrian cities and towns in 2013 and 2017. These attacks have been linked to the deaths of more than 1,400 civilians, including men, women, and children, in rebel-held areas, as reported by US intelligence and rights groups.

Ali's arrest comes a week after Syria was reinstated into the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which had previously stripped Syria’s voting rights in 2021 after finding evidence of sarin and chlorine gas use by the Syrian air force.

The arrest is part of a broader push by Syrian authorities to address crimes from the Assad-era, including trials of former officials and investigations into massacres such as the 2013 Tadamon incident. Advocates continue to call for justice for Syria’s disappeared.

Sources