Visualising chemical weapon attacks in the Middle East

Over the past decade, all recorded incidents of chemical weapon attacks in war have been in Syria.

On April 29, 1997, the Chemical Weapons Convention – which banned the development, production or stockpiling of chemical weapons – came into force. Since then, over 70,000 metric tonnes of stockpiles and chemical agents have been destroyed under the agreement. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), 193 states, or 98 percent of the world’s population, now live under the protection of the convention. Only four countries have not signed or ratified the convention. They include: Egypt, South Sudan, North Korea and Israel (signed but not ratified).