Chemical weapons attacks have killed nearly 1,500 people in Syria, according to a new report. A UN war crimes expert says the documentation of the attacks will allow for international prosecution in the future.
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The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) on Monday published a report detailing 161 chemical attacks in Syria since the conflict emerged in 2011.
"Since the conflict in Syria began, there have been numerous and horrific violations of humanitarian and human rights law, including the systematic use of chemical weapons," said a statement by SAMS announcing the report.
"The 161 documented chemical attacks have led to at least 1,491 deaths and 14,581 injuries from chemical exposure," SAMS added.
Some 133 other chemical attacks were reported in addition to the 161 documented in the reported, although SAMS said the claims "could not be fully substantiated."
Investigators of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in December 2014 began to dismantle Syria's chemical weapons stockpile in agreement with a UN Security Council resolution passed in 2013.
However, the EU special envoy Jacek Bylica in November slammed Damascus for not fully disclosing its supply of toxic arms, saying it was "impossible to have confidence that its chemical weapons program has been irreversibly dismantled."
Non-state actors
At least 69 chemical attacks were documented in 2015, making it the year with the highest frequency of attacks since the conflict started, according to the report.
"By the summer of 2015, the types of chemical agents being used and number of actors using chemical weapons increased, as non-state actors including ISIL were accused of using mustard gas and chlorine gas," said SAMS, referring to the "Islamic State" militant group by an alternate acronym.
In February, US-led coalition forces captured the militant group's head of chemical and traditional weapons manufacturing, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said on Thursday.
Information gathered from the detainee was used to launch airstrikes on the group's chemical weapons assets in Iraq. However, the spokesman did not mention targets in Syria.
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The "Arab Spring" effect
In 2011, as regimes crumble across the region, tens of thousands of Syrians take to the streets to protest against corruption, high unemployment and soaring food prices. The Syrian government responds with live ammunition, claiming some 400 lives by May.
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Condemnation without consensus
At the urging of Western countries, the UN Security Council condemns the violent crackdown. The EU and US implement an arms embargo, visa bans and asset freezes in the months that follow. With the backing of the Arab League, calls eventually grow for the Syrian president's departure. But not all UN members agree with this demand.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Szenes
Assad refuses to back down
Bashar al-Assad - who has been in power since the death of his father in 2000 - sees his reputation wane with the continuing unrest. He refuses to end decades-long emergency rule, which allows for surveillance and interrogation. Russia backs its ally, supplying weapons and vetoing UN resolutions on Syria multiple times.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Y. Badawi
The opposition gets organized
By the end of the year, human rights groups and the UN have evidence of human rights abuses. Civilians and military deserters are slowly beginning to organize themselves to fight back against government forces, which have been targeting dissidents. More than 5,000 have died so far in the fighting. It will take another six months before the UN acknowledges that a war is taking place on Syrian soil.
Image: Reuters/Goran Tomasevic
Outside intervention
In September 2012, Iran confirms that it has fighters on the ground in Syria - a fact long denied by Damascus. The presence of allied troops underscores the hesitance of the US and other Western powers to intervene in the conflict. The US, stung by failed interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, sees dialogue as the only reasonable solution.
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Fleeing the conflict
As the death toll nears 100,000, the number of refugees in neighboring countries - such as Turkey and Jordan - hits one million. That number will double by September 2013. The West and the Arab League have seen all attempts at a transitional government fail in the two years of war, watching as fighting spills over into Turkey and Lebanon. They fear Assad will stay in power by any means possible.
Image: Reuters/B. Khabieh
No united front against Assad
Assad has long claimed he's combatting terrorists. But it's not until the second year of war that the fragmented Free Syrian Army is definitely known to include radical extremists. The group Al-Nusra Front pledges allegiance to al Qaeda, further splintering the opposition.
Image: Reuters/A. Abdullah
From brute force to chemical warfare
In June 2013, the White House says it has evidence that Assad has been using sarin nerve gas on civilians - a report later backed by the UN. The discovery pushes US President Barack Obama and other Western leaders toward considering the use of military force. However, Russia's proposal to remove the chemical weapons ultimately wins out.
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Islamic State emerges
Reports of a new jihadist group calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) emerge in the final weeks of 2013. Taking land in northern Syria and Iraq, the group sparks infighting among the opposition, with some 500 dead by early 2014. The unexpected emergence of IS ultimately draws the US, France, Saudi Arabia and other nations into the war.
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War crimes
UN war crimes expert Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni said the documentation of biological weapons use in Syria will be useful in holding those responsible for the attacks accountable for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
"The documentation of these international crimes, as well as others, will become useful one day when criminal accountability will occur," said UN war crimes expert Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni, who reviewed the report.
The conflict in Syria has left more than 250,000 people dead and half the population displaced, according to UN figures.
Humanitarian aid groups, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF) have reported treating Syrians for chemical exposureImage: Reuters