​​​​​​​Panorama of week... Great paralysis in Damascus,  ISIS used chemical weapons in Iraq

 The Arab newspapers issued during the past week dealt with the living and economic crisis in the areas of the Damascus government, and a United Nations report on the use of chemical weapons by ISIS mercenaries in Iraq.

 A suffocating energy crisis in Damascus

 Beginning with the Syrian issue, Al-Bayan newspaper said: “Overnight, the city of Damascus and its surroundings began to live in a state of paralysis in many vital sectors of the country, especially at the level of transport services, which is the most important sector in the city, as the city ran out of fuel,  The city and its countryside are experiencing a suffocating crisis amid the absence of public and even private transportation.

 This is the strongest crisis that the city and its governmental institutions have been exposed to, since the beginning of the crisis in 2011. Indeed, citizens believe that the days of war were beautiful days in terms of services compared to the crises that the Syrian citizen is experiencing these days.

 Public sector employees in Syria are the most affected. At a time when official government transport services have stopped in many sectors, a large part of the employees face difficulty in reaching their work early in the morning, as the city turns into a crowding that Damascus has not known for decades.

 The matter did not stop at the details of daily life, but rather this became reflected in the economic conditions as well, especially the commercial and industrial side. Commercial shops and industrial facilities began, according to a site survey, to reduce production, working hours or weekly working days, and even employees and workers, due to their inability to secure fuel, whether  Through official or unofficial means, in addition to the Ministry of Commerce's threat to impose penalties on them if they buy fuel from the black market, which made the operation of generators "suspicious," according to what activists inside Syria say.

These difficult conditions that Damascus is going through in particular, are likely to worsen in the coming times with the beginning of the year 2023, due to the urgent need for energy in light of the difficulty in obtaining it, whether from the inside or through foreign aid, especially from Russia, due to Moscow's preoccupation with what is happening in Ukraine.

 ISIS used chemical weapons, according to United Nations experts

 Regarding the file of ISIS mercenaries, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram said: "UN experts indicated that there is evidence that ISIS used chemical weapons during the period in which it declared its" caliphate "in areas it had controlled.

 The report of the United Nations investigation team touched on;  to promote accountability for crimes committed by ISIS to “Collect Documentary, Digital, and Testimony Evidence” related to the use of chemical weapons in Iraq in the group’s “caliphate” between 2014 and 2019.

 In their report, the experts concluded that ISIS "manufactured and produced rockets, chemical mortars, chemical munitions for rocket-propelled grenades, chemical warheads, and improvised chemical explosive devices."

 The report focused in particular on evidence "proving that ISIS made financial, logistical and procurement arrangements and links with leadership elements," referring to ISIS.

 He also noted a greater understanding of sites "where suspected weapons manufacturing, production and use activities have occurred across Iraq," and "more insight into the ISIL-manufactured materials and delivery systems used."

 In particular, the investigators focused their efforts on an attack on the Iraqi city of Toz Khurmato on March 8, 2016. They confirmed that they had collected "a large amount of evidence," including "ISIS payroll records and correspondence."

 "Evidence related to the payment of martyrdom compensation to the families of ISIS members killed while deploying chemical weapons, and records of ISIS training for key operatives in the use of chemicals as weapons, including chemical dispersal devices," was examined in the report.

The report listed "a range of chemical/biological agents" that the organization has turned into weapons, including "aluminum phosphide, chlorine, cyanide, nicotine, ricin, and thallium sulfate."

 The report stresses the "continuous health complications among the residents of Taza Khurmato, which include chronic diseases, cancers, and complications related to reproductive health."

 The report also touched on major crimes, especially sexual violence and persecution of Christians and others in Iraq, as well as the destruction of cultural and religious heritage.

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ANHA