Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chemical - NTI
Chemical - NTI
Chemical weapons are toxic chemical agents deliberately used to cause death or severe
harm. They are, by far, the most widely used and proliferated weapons of mass
destruction, though they often get less attention than nuclear or biological weapons. That
changed in 2013 when chemical weapons were used in the Syrian Civil War, and graphic
images of the victims showed the world the devastating capacity of these weapons.
Terrorism
Unlike nuclear, biological and radiological weapons, chemical weapons already have been
used by non-state actors and terrorist organizations. In 1995, a Japanese religious group
called Aum Shinrikyo released liquid sarin on the Tokyo subway, which evaporated
quickly into a colorless and odorless gas that attacked passengers' nervous systems. The
attack killed 17 people, and sent more than 5,500 patients to the hospital. More recently,
reported chemical weapon use by ISIL in Syria shows growing interest in chemical
weapons from non-state actors.