Syria rebel leader vows to shut down notorious Assad prisons

A chemical weapon is described by the UN’s chemical watchdog, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), as a chemical used to cause intentional death or harm through its toxic properties.

Their use is prohibited under international humanitarian law.

Between 2013 to 2018, Human Rights Watch documented at least 85 chemical weapons attacks in Syria, accusing the ousted government of being responsible for most of them.

Assad’s government denied ever using chemical weapons.

Syria signed the OPCW’s Chemical Weapons Certificate in 2013, a month after a chemical weapons attack on suburbs of Damascus left more than 1,400 people dead.

It is not known how many chemical weapons Syria has, but it’s believed Assad kept stockpiles and that the declaration he had made was incomplete.

Victims of chemical attacks in Syria have recently spoken to the BBC about the devastating impacts they’ve experienced.

Meanwhile, European foreign ministers are meeting in Berlin on Thursday to hold critical talks on Syria and Ukraine.

A day later, leaders of the G7 countries will also discuss the latest developments in Syria at a virtual meeting, the White House said.