Photo Gallery Deadly Clouds
Although the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad is turning over its chemical weapons to international control, it has continued to attack its people using chlorine gas bombs. Here, a woman is seen breathing through an oxygen mask in the village of Kfar Zeita in the central province of Hama on April 12. Rebels and the government blamed each other for the poison gas attacks, but there is considerable evidence indicating the regime was behind it.
Most of the victims reported the same symptoms: burns in their respiratory passages, difficulty breathing and eye irritation. These children are shown waiting for treatment at a hospital in Kfar Zeita.
The chlorine gas attacks expose a major loophole in the international deal which promised to remove chemical weapons from Syria and suggest chemical warfare could persist after the removal operation has finished.
It is more difficult to determine a chlorine gas attack than a nerve agent like sarin, which leaves behind clear traces. Chlorine is used in many everyday items, like bleach, which makes it more difficult to prove. Here, a man views the remains of a barrel bomb used to carry the chlorine during the attack on Telminnes. The bombs are dropped from helicopters from a high altitude.
The bombs include cylinders of a type often used in industrial manufacturing with the engraved initials "CL2" as well as the name Norinco, the suspected Chinese manufacturer. CI2 is the symbol for chlorine gas. Forensic samples taken by a Syrian doctor that were then analyzed by professional weapons experts commissioned by Britain's Telegraph newspaper, determined high concentrations of chlorine at the impact sites.
Further evidence that the bombs have been dropped by the regime-aligned military is the fact that they have been thrown from helicopters. The rebels in Syria do not have helicopters at their disposal. Here, a non-exploded barrel in Telminnes.
