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| - Since the start of the civil war in Syria in 2011, belligerents -- in particular the regime of President Bashar al-Assad -- have been accused of using chemical weapons on multiple occasions. Here is a look back. In August 2013, regime forces carry out attacks in Eastern Ghouta and Moadamiyet al-Sham, rebel-held areas outside Damascus. The opposition accuses the regime of using toxic gas in the attacks which kill around 1,400 people, including more than 400 children. The government, which acknowledged in 2012 that it had chemical weapons, denies the allegations. Then-US president Barack Obama does not carry out threatened retaliatory strikes, instead striking a deal with Russia on the dismantlement of Syria's chemical arsenal, under United Nations supervision. In mid-September, a UN report says there is clear evidence sarin gas was used. A joint commission of the UN and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) finds in August 2016 that regime helicopters dropped chlorine-packed barrel bombs on two villages in Idlib province in 2014 and 2015. The commission accuses the Islamic State jihadist group of using mustard gas in August 2015 in the rebel stronghold of Marea in Aleppo province. In October, 2016, it says the Syrian army carried out a chlorine attack at Qmenas in Idlib in 2015. Warplanes strike the rebel-held Idlib town of Khan Sheikhun in April 2017. The UN puts the death toll at 83, while the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights counts 87. In response, US President Donald Trump unleashes Tomahawk missiles against the regime's Shayrat airbase. UN and OPCW investigators confirm sarin gas was used and say the Damascus regime is responsible. It denies involvement. The OPCW says sarin and chlorine were also used in two attacks on Latamneh in Hama province on March 24-25, as well as sarin on March 30 in a third attack in the same area. In January 2018, the Observatory says the regime is suspected of having used chemical weapons in two incidents in the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta outside Damascus that month, with people reporting breathing difficulties. On February 25, a child dies and at least 13 people suffer breathing difficulties after another suspected chemical attack on Eastern Ghouta. A medic describes a "chlorine odour". On March 7, the Observatory says at least 60 people suffered breathing difficulties in two areas of Eastern Ghouta after regime air strikes. On April 7, the White Helmets, who act as first responders in rebel-held areas of Syria, allege that regime forces used toxic gas in Douma, killing more than 40. The regime and its ally Russia deny involvement. Britain, France and the US unleash a barrage of guided missiles on suspected regime chemical weapons facilities on April 14. In June 2018 a Britain-drafted UN resolution, opposed by Russia and Syria, gives the OPCW new powers to apportion blame for chemical attacks in Syria. A new team of investigators starts its mission in June 2019. On May 22, 2019, Washington says it suspects Syrian government forces carried out a fresh chemical attack in northwestern Syria three days earlier. France later says it has an unverified "indication" of such an attack. On September 26, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says Washington has concluded Assad's forces used chlorine gas on May 19 as part of its offensive in the last rebel stronghold of Idlib. burs-kd-jmy/eab/dwo
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