Know more about Syria's chemical weapons

New Delhi: Syria is thought to have the world's third-largest stockpile of chemical weapons, after the United States and Russia.On September 14, 2013, the United States and Russia announced an agreement that would lead to the elimination of Syria's chemical weapon stockpiles by mid-2014 in response to its use of chemical weapons in Civil war on 21st of August 2013.A U.N. investigation team led by Swedish scientist Ake Sellstrom was able to collect clear and convincing evidence that ground-based rockets loaded with sarin gas were deployed against Syrian civilians, killing hundreds.But what are these chemical weapons and why have the use of these weapons become an international issue? Here is the answer to this question Chemical weapons can be widely dispersed in gas, liquid and solid forms and may easily afflict others than the intended targets. They are also known as the weapons of mass destruction.This International law has prohibited the use of chemical weapons since 1899, under the Hague Convention: Article 23 of the Regulations Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land adopted by the First Hague Conference “especially” prohibited employing “poison and poisoned arms”; also, a separate Declaration stated that in any war between signatory powers, the parties would abstain from using projectiles “the object of which is the diffusion of asphyxiating or deleterious gases. The U.S. has stated that Syria “has had a chemical warfare program since the mid-1980s”, In 1988, a U.S. analyst described Syria's chemical weapon capability as more advanced than that of Iraq; however, Israel stated in 1989 that Syria had only the “potential for chemical warfare, but not more than that”.But it was on July 23, 2012,when the Syrian government acknowledged for the first time that it had chemical weapons.Syria is one of only 7 states which are not party to the Chemical Weapons Convention. However, it is party to the 1925 Geneva Protocol prohibiting the use of chemical weapons in war.According to reports, Syria reportedly manufactures following types of chemical weapons:1.Sarin: It is a colorless, odorless liquid. Sarin can be lethal even at very low concentrations, with death following within one minute after direct ingestion due to suffocation from lung muscle paralysis, unless some antidotes, typically atropine or Biperiden and pralidoxime, are quickly administered to a person. People who absorb a non-lethal dose, but do not receive immediate medical treatment, may suffer permanent neurological damage.2. Tabun: is an extremely toxic chemical substance. It is a clear, colorless, and tasteless liquid with a faint fruity odor. It is classified as a nerve agent because it fatally interferes with normal functioning of the mammalian nervous system.3. VX: It has no known uses except in chemical warfare as a nerve agent. It is a tasteless and odorless liquid.4. Mustard Gas: This is from the class of related cytotoxic and vesicant chemical warfare agents with the ability to form large blisters on the exposed skin and in the lungs.Independent assessments indicate that Syrian production of Chemical weapons could be up to a combined total of a few hundred tons of chemical agent per year.