Families of more than 1,4000 victims of the Bashar Assad regime’s attack on Syria's eastern Ghouta region with chemical weapons still await justice and accountability after nine years.

Syrians, the opposition coalition and humanitarian groups during the weekend marked the tragic anniversary that left deep wounds in the minds of many.

Calling the attack the "massacre of the century," the Syrian opposition coalition on Saturday spoke to the families of the victims and said, "They do not find accountability for the criminal Bashar Assad and his regime, nor do they see an international position that amounts to the crime committed against their loved ones, and not a single serious measure can prevent its recurrence."

Hundreds of thousands of innocent people have been killed in the decadelong brutal civil war that has riddled Syria. Yet, these attacks were not carried out through conventional weapons alone as the Bashar Assad regime repeatedly used chemical weapons, and no legal process is being conducted against these crimes.

"The Syrian people have not forgotten the massacre that the Assad regime committed against the Syrian people on August 21, 2013," the opposition said in a written statement.

A member of the political committee of the opposition, Munther Serras said that the 2013 attack on Ghouta was "one of 184 chemical attacks that the criminal Assad regime has for committed in Syria."

Another member of the committee, Basma Muhammad said that "the Syrian people suffered the ultimate betrayal when the international community did not show aserious response toward the chemical attack that the Assad regime launched in eastern Ghouta near Damascus in August 2013."

"Nevertheless, the Syrian people continue with their struggle against the Assad regime, and insist on demanding accountability and a genuine political transition in Syria," she added.

For years, the Assad regime has ignored the needs and safety of the Syrian people, only eyeing further gains of territory and crushing the opposition. With this aim, the regime has for years bombed vital facilities like schools, hospitals and residential areas, causing the displacement of almost half of the country’s population while adopting policies to make their lives more difficult.

The White Helmets Syrian civil defense group also remembered the attack and said: "Recalling this night nine years ago, when over 1100 Syrians in #Ghouta woke up, gasping for their last breath after the regime fired missiles loaded with poisonous sarin gas."

"Up till now, there has been no international mechanism to stop this from happening again," the group highlighted.

Syria’s conflict, which began in March 2011, has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced half the country’s prewar population of 23 million. Assad’s forces have regained control of most parts of Syria over the past few years, with the help of their allies, Russia and Iran.

The regime has survived nine years of conflict yet is still far from being a proponent of a solution that would end all hostilities. It has blocked several negotiation attempts of a constitutional committee and a U.N.-brokered process to find a political solution.

Market attack kills 15

The suffering of the Syrian people at the hands of the Assad regime has also been ongoing in the form of daily attacks on civilian settlements.

A rocket attack on a crowded market in a town held by opposition fighters in northern Syria killed 15 people on Friday and wounded dozens, an opposition war monitor and a paramedic group said.

"It's a black day for the people of northern Syria," the White Helmets wrote on Twitter, saying that al-Bab "experienced a tragic day as more than 15 were murdered and more than 30 injured in a brutal massacre after the city was attacked by terrorist missile strikes targeting its market & civilians' homes."

The group said that so far this year, Syrian Civil Defense teams responded to 376 attacks on civilians in northwestern Syria by the regime forces, Russia and the militias loyal to them, which led to the killing of 76 civilians, including 27 children and 11 women, and the injury of 174 civilians, including 62 children and 24 women.

"These terrorist attacks, which target markets, vital areas, schools and residential neighborhoods, threaten the stability of civilians in the region, and it is a systematic policy aimed at spreading terror among the safe civilians and preventing them from living their normal lives," the group warned.

It further called on the international community to put an end to "these deadly terrorist attacks and stand up to the perpetrators of these systematic crimes against the Syrians and hold them accountable."

Al-Bab is one of the hubs the Syrian people have settled in after years of displacement and Türkiye’s efforts to normalize life in the region, however continuing attacks by both the regime and terrorist groups threaten stability.

In line with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, Türkiye launched Operation Euphrates Shield in 2016 across its border in al-Bab, northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents.

Al-Bab was cleared of Daesh terrorists in the sixth month of the operation.

Through projects carried out in the fields of education, health, infrastructure and services, the population in the al-Bab city center and surrounding settlements reached around 400,000.

Residents want the mounting attacks by the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terrorist organization, the YPG, to come to an end. The YPG targets al-Bab from Syria's Manbij and Tal Rifat areas that remain under the group's control.