7 chemical weapons attacks in Syria in the past 5 years

1. August 2013

Bodies of people killed in the chemical weapons attack in Syria on August 21, 2013.

The attack followed a series of explosions overnight. Rebel groups claimed that rockets carrying chemical agents hit the Syrian towns of Ain Tarma, Zamalka, Jobar and Muadamiya.

Numerous photographs and videos have shown hundreds of bodies of scores of people. The victims all had symptoms such as vomiting, excessive drooling, difficulty breathing and shivering.

The poison is believed to be a mixture of sarin nerve gas and other substances. Rebel fighters also circulated photos of rockets containing the chemical agent they said were used in the attack.

The 2013 attack killed more than 1,400 people and shocked the world.

2. April 2014

Syrians receive medical assistance after being reported to have been poisoned by gas.

An attack on the village of Kfar Zeita, in Hama province (Syria) has sent many people to the hospital, with both Syrian media and anti-government groups saying poison gas was used in the village.

According to anti-government forces, Syrian army helicopters dropped homemade bombs on the village, causing the release of chlorine gas. The Syrian government said the incident was caused by the Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has said it has evidence that chlorine gas has been used multiple times in Syria. A separate UN report also said that multiple chlorine gas attacks took place in April and May of that year.

3. May 2015

A chemical weapons cache found in Syria. Illustration photo: Nowtheendbegins

In the spring of 2015, two years after President Assad agreed to destroy his chemical weapons stockpile, the Syrian town of Sarmeen was attacked with chlorine gas. The poison was believed to have been placed in drums and exploded when dropped from above. The gas immediately injures the trachea of ​​victims and in some cases can cause suffocation by filling the lungs with fluid.

The UN Security Council later introduced a bill to set up a special committee to determine who used chlorine gas as a lethal weapon. Meanwhile, Syria asserted that this was a propaganda act aimed at discrediting its reputation.

4. August 2015

A Syrian teenager was found to have been exposed to mustard gas. Photo: Reuters.

In August 2015, the Syrian American Medical Corps, a humanitarian organization, said it had received more than 50 patients, 23 of whom showed symptoms of chemical exposure. Some had blisters on their skin from a mustard gas attack in the city of Marea, and a United Nations report blamed the terrorist organization ISIS.

5. September 2016

The victims showed symptoms of suffocation after inhaling toxic gas from the attack. Photo: RT

Another chemical attack in 2016 killed at least two people when gas canisters were reportedly dropped on an area of ​​Aleppo, Syria. While the use of chlorine as a weapon is banned, it is not on the Syrian government’s list of toxic substances that must be destroyed because of its many civilian uses.

6. April 2017

Image of a victim of a suspected chemical weapons attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, Syria in April 2017. Photo: Indian Express.

Dozens of people, including women and children, were killed and hundreds more were injured on April 4, 2017, in Khan Sheikhoun in northern Syria.

The Turkish Health Ministry released a preliminary investigation report showing that sarin nerve gas was found in blood and urine samples of victims evacuated to Türkiye. In response, US President Donald Trump ordered an airstrike with 59 Tomahawk missiles on the Syrian army's al-Shairat base.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he doubted the attack had taken place and that the Syrian government did not possess chemical weapons, but rather that terrorists were fighting against Assad.

April 7, 2018

Many people suffocated in their homes and shelters in Douma. Photo: Twitter/White Helmets

Dozens of people were killed and hundreds injured in an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria on April 7.

The BBC quoted the White Helmets organization and local rescue groups as saying that the attack left at least 70 people "suffocated" and hundreds more injured in Douma, a suburb of the capital Damascus in the Eastern Ghouta region.

Another group called the Ghouta Medical Center described a helicopter dropping a barrel bomb containing Sarin gas on Douma, the BBC added.

Photos and videos posted on social media showed dozens of dead civilians with white foam filling their mouths and noses. Some videos showed dead women and children strewn across rooms. Estimates of the number of dead ranged from 40 to more than 150.