Syrian inferno

The situation in Syria, especially in Eastern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, has not merely dipped from bad to worse. It seems, by all accounts, to have reached a point of no return. Indeed, the unanimous decision of the United Nations Security Council to implement a ceasefire came, for all practical purposes, to a nought. Even if the Russians said they had asked their Syrian allies to suspend bombing for a few hours, there was a lull only for a few minutes. The over 400,000 residents played it safe by staying indoors in the rubble. Horrific stories have emerged of death, doom and despair. Emergency provisions for food, water, and medical supplies have become virtually impossible to come by. So, has the UN and its decision-making become a farce in this God-forsaken place? Further, the reports showing evidence of chemical weapons being used have added to the living nightmare. Amidst all this comes the news that North Korea has been sending supplies to Syria that could be used to produce chemical weapons. A report on North Korea authored by a UN panel of experts has it that Pyongyang had sent acid-resistant tiles, valves, and thermometers to Syria. The same report also claims that North Korean missile experts visited Syria in 2016 and 2017 after the chemical weapons supplies had been sent to the Middle-Eastern state. During one of the trips, the technicians stayed at Syrian military facilities. A UN member state reported to the panel of experts that scientists from North Korea may still be operating in Barzeh, Adra, and Hama. The details come just two days after the Syrian regime was accused of carrying out a chlorine gas attack on Eastern Ghouta. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime has repeatedly denied claims of appropriating chemical weapons. Medical aid organisations, however, insisted that they have routinely treated victims of chemical attacks and blames the government forces for this perpetuation. In this crisis, the country's war nears its seventh anniversary. The report says that the Syrian government specifically denied the accusations that there were missile experts from North Korea inside the country, saying, instead, they were "sports trainers". And, now, it is openly exporting terror in the form of chemical warfare. These startling revelations apart, the fact remains that, there's little or no hope for the innocent civilians and children of the war-ravaged Syria. Bombings continue ceaselessly—whether by day or by night. Some "rebels" have been the so-called targets. But, hundreds have perished. Precisely, how a State can inflict such unimaginable horrors, death, and destruction on its own people and that, too, with foreign aid, remains the greatest mystery. At this rate, unfortunately, time alone will tell if anything will ultimately be left of Syria.