Recent and archive images relating to the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Chlorine gas attacks in Syria this month, if proven, expose a major loophole in an international deal to remove chemical weapons from the war-torn country and suggest chemical warfare could persist after the removal operation has finished.
A U.S. navy personnel gestures in front of the U.S. MV Cape Ray ship docked at the naval airbase in Rota, near Cadiz, southern Spain April 10, 2014. Former container vessel Cape Ray, docked in southern Spain, has been fitted out with at least $10 million of gear to let it take on about 560 metric tonnes of Syria's most dangerous chemical agents and sail them out to sea, said officials. Experts on board a cargo ship transformed into a multi-million dollar chemical weapons destroyer said on Thursday they were ready to start working on Syria's stock of toxic arms in the middle of the Mediterranean as early as May. Now they just have to hope the weather holds and Damascus delivers on time. REUTERS/Marcelo del Pozo (SPAIN - Tags: MILITARY MARITIME POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR3KSCYMarcelo del Pozo (REUTERS)Children, affected by what activists say was a gas attack, breathe through oxygen masks in the Damascus suburb of Saqba, August 21, 2013. Syria's opposition accused government forces of gassing hundreds of people on Wednesday by firing rockets that released deadly fumes over rebel-held Damascus suburbs, killing men, women and children as they sleptBassam Khabieh (REUTERS)A guard looks on as the Norwegian frigate "Helge Ingstad" leaves the port of Limassol in Cyprus December 28, 2013. The vessel is part of the Danish-Norwegian force that will transport Syria's chemical agents out of the country to destruction. The force is ready for a quick response when they get the green light to go into Syria. Picture taken December 28, 2013.
REUTERS/Lars Magne Hovtun/Norwegian Armed Forces/NTB Scanpix (CYPRUS - Tags: MILITARY TRANSPORT POLITICS) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. NORWAY OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN NORWAY. NO COMMERCIAL SALES - RTX16XNBNorsk Telegrambyra AS (REUTERS)A woman affected by what activists say was a gas attack on the town of Telminnes breathes through an oxygen mask at Bab al-Hawa hospital, where she was transferred to, close to the Turkish border April 21, 2014. Chlorine gas attacks in Syria this month, if proven, expose a major loophole in an international deal which promised to remove chemical weapons from Syria and suggest chemical warfare could persist after the removal operation has finished. In addition, chlorine gas that was never included on the list submitted to the OPCW is now allegedly being used on the battlefield, leading some countries to consider requesting an investigation, possibly through the United Nations. On Monday, opposition groups reported a further attack, this time 20 miles (30 km) northeast of Kfar Zeita in the town of Telminnes. Picture taken April 21, 2014. Amer Alfaj (REUTERS)A Free Syrian Army medical group trains people on how to cope with chemical weapon attacks in Aleppo December 25, 2013. Ammar Abdullah (REUTERS)A U.N. chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighbourhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. A team of U.N. experts left their Damascus hotel for a third day of on-site investigations into apparent chemical weapons attacks on the outskirts of the capital. Activists and doctors in rebel-held areas said the six-car U.N. convoy was scheduled to visit the scene of strikes in the eastern Ghouta suburbs.Mohamed Abdullah (REUTERS)ATTENTION EDITORS - VISUALS COVERAGE OF SCENES OF DEATH AND INJURY
A man holds the body of a dead child among bodies of people activists say were killed by nerve gas in the Ghouta region, in the Duma neighbourhood of Damascus August 21, 2013. Syrian activists said at least 213 people, including women and children, were killed on Wednesday in a nerve gas attack by President Bashar al-Assad's forces on rebel-held districts of the Ghouta region east of Damascus. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) TEMPLATE OUT - RTX12S3VBassam Khabieh (REUTERS)Animal carcasses lie on the ground, killed by what residents said was a chemical weapon attack on Tuesday, in Khan al-Assal area near the northern city of Aleppo, March 23, 2013. The United Nations said on Thursday it would investigate Syria's allegations that rebel forces used chemical weapons in an attack near Aleppo, but Western countries sought a probe of all claims concerning the use of such banned arms. The deaths of 26 people in that rocket attack became the focus of competing claims on Wednesday from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's supporters and opponents, who accuse each other of firing a missile laden with chemicals. George Ourfalian (REUTERS)
