syrian father who lost twins to poison gas uprooted again

'The biggest fear now, after regime forces and the Russians and allied militiamen took over Khan Sheikhoun is that they will tamper with the evidence with regards to the chemical weapons attack and distort the facts,' he said. Most of all, al-Yousef fears the takeover by President Bashar Assad's forces of Khan Sheikhoun means that any leftover evidence from the April 2017 toxic gas attack will now be erased forever.

I used to find some relief by visiting them twice a week at the grave,' he told The Associated Press in a recent interview.

'I buried the most important thing I have in my life there, my children and my siblings. He now lives among thousands of other internally displaced Syrians in a settlement near the Turkish border, worried he will never be able to go back to the hometown he left behind. But tragedy keeps chasing the 31-year-old former shopkeeper.Īs Syria's civil war edges toward a bloody end, many displaced persons like al-Yousef fear that a government win will bring little relief - or sense of closure.Īl-Yousef recently fled Khan Sheikhoun again, joining tens of thousands fleeing heavy airstrikes and bombardment as government forces swept into the town, on the southern edge of the country's last rebel stronghold in the province of Idlib. BEIRUT - When Abdel Hamid al-Yousef lost his 9-month-old twins in the poison gas attack that hit the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun in April 2017, the world witnessed his heartbreak and grief in the video of him cradling their lifeless bodies in his arms, bidding them farewell in the chaotic aftermath of the attack.ĭetermined to continue with his life despite the pain, he has since remarried, and now has a 1-year-old daughter who brings much needed joy to what remains of the family.

Syrian father who lost twins to poison gas uprooted again