On Monday, two French investigating judges issued an arrest warrant on suspicion of complicity in war crimes against former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the bombing of the city of Daraa in 2017.

The bombing killed a civilian who held both French and Syrian nationalities, according to what an informed source told AFP.

This is the second arrest warrant issued by French judges in the Department for Combating Crimes against Humanity at the Criminal Court in Paris, targeting the Syrian president who was ousted on December 8, 2024.

The Paris Court of Appeal had previously ratified, last June, the arrest warrant issued by investigating judges against Al-Assad, who is accused of complicity in committing crimes against humanity in the deadly chemical attacks that took place in August 2013, according to the victims’ lawyers and non-governmental organizations.< /p>

Since 2021, investigating judges from the Crimes Against Humanity Unit at the Paris Judicial Court have been investigating the chain of command that led to the chemical attacks on the night of August 4-5, 2013 in Adra and Douma near Damascus (450 injured), and on August 21, 2013 in Ghouta. Eastern Province, killing more than a thousand people, according to US intelligence.

An arrest warrant was issued against Al-Assad based on a criminal complaint filed by French-Syrian victims, the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, the Syrian Archive, the Open Society Justice Initiative, and the Civil Rights Defenders Organization.