Syrian Paramedic Recalls Devastating Chemical Attack: ‘I Smelt Death’
August 21, 2013, remains etched in the memory of Mohammed Sleiman, a paramedic from Zamalka in Eastern Ghouta, Syria. On that fateful day, regime forces unleashed a brutal attack on Eastern Ghouta and Moadamiyet al-Sham, both rebel-held areas outside the capital.
Sleiman, who lost five members of his family during the attack, vividly remembers the horror. He recalls rushing to the scene after learning about the assault, desperately trying to protect himself from the toxic gas by wrapping his face with a cloth.
What he witnessed was beyond comprehension. The sheer devastation left him in a state of shock. He encountered countless injured and lifeless bodies. The scene resembled an apocalypse, an indescribable tragedy that shook him to the core.
Returning to his family home, Sleiman found it empty. In search of his loved ones, he journeyed to a nearby medical facility. There, he made a chilling discovery: his father and neighbors were marked only by numbers, their identities erased. Sleiman painfully identified the bodies of those he knew, including his own father numbered as 95.
This grievous chemical attack, during which approximately 1,400 people were killed, including over 400 children, further perpetuated the brutal Syrian civil war that erupted in 2011. The government and opposition each offered conflicting narratives, with the opposition accusing the regime of using toxic gas, a claim vehemently denied by the authorities.
The horrendous aftermath of the attack was captured in numerous amateur videos uploaded by activists to social media platforms, depicting lifeless bodies strewn across the ground, predominantly children. Unconscious victims, frothing at the mouth, were captured on camera, while doctors frantically attempted to administer life-saving oxygen.
These distressing scenes provoked international condemnation and repulsion. A subsequent United Nations report provided compelling evidence that sarin gas had been utilized.
Despite the use of chemical weapons crossing the red line set by then U.S. President Barack Obama, there were no retaliatory strikes. Instead, a deal was reached with Russia for the supervised dismantlement of Syria’s chemical arsenal under UN oversight.
Eastern Ghouta eventually returned to regime control in 2018, but the scars from that horrific day remain etched in survivors’ hearts.
On the anniversary of the attack, survivors and activists gathered in Syria’s opposition-held north and northwest regions to commemorate the victims. In Afrin, survivors shared their harrowing experiences, while young children re-enacted the horrors through a small performance.
In 2013, Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, committed to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and pledged to relinquish all chemical weapons. However, since then, the OPCW has held Assad’s regime responsible for multiple instances of chemical attacks during the civil war.
In 2021, Syria’s voting rights within the OPCW were suspended—a historic rebuke—following poison gas attacks on civilians in 2017.
The event in Afrin was not intended as a mere remembrance of the massacre, as the survivors carry that burden every day. Rather, it served as a reminder of the world’s failure to support justice and uphold human rights. The call for holding Bashar al-Assad accountable remains strong.
The devastating chemical attack on Eastern Ghouta in 2013 stands as a haunting reminder of the ongoing tragedies and innocent lives lost in the Syrian civil war. It serves as a somber testament to the urgent need for lasting peace and justice in the region.
