Western Ghouta: 33°27′36″N36°11′49″E / 33.460°N 36.197°E / 33.460; 36.197[1]
Date
21 August 2013[2]
Attack type
Chemical attack
Deaths
Various estimates:
at least 281 (French intelligence)[3]
at least 350 (UK intelligence)[4]
355 (MSF)[5]
494 (Damascus Media Office)[6]
502 (SOHR)[7]
635 (SRGC)[8]
923 (VDC)[9]
1,300 (SNC)[10]
1,338 (LCC)[11]
1,144 (SNHR) [12]
1,429 (United States)[13][14]
1,729 (FSA)[15]
Injured
3,600 patients displaying neurotoxic symptoms in 3 hospitals supported by MSF[5]
Perpetrators
Syrian government[16][17][18][note 1]
Charges
Bashar and Maher al-Assad and two other Syrian senior government officials charged with complicity in crimes against humanity and complicity in war crimes[19]
Litigation
French arrest warrants for the Assad brothers and the two other officials[19]
v
t
e
Syrian civil war
Timeline
January–April 2011
May–August 2011
September–December 2011
January–April 2012
May–August 2012
September–December 2012
January–April 2013
May–December 2013
January–July 2014
August–December 2014
January–July 2015
August–December 2015
January–April 2016
May–August 2016
September–December 2016
January–April 2017
May–August 2017
September–December 2017
January–April 2018
May–August 2018
September–December 2018
January–April 2019
May–August 2019
September–December 2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Background and causes
Casualties
Cities
map
Terrorism
Massacres
v
t
e
Civil uprising in Syria (March–August 2011)
Daraa
Baniyas
Homs (May–August 2011)
Talkalakh
Rastan and Talbiseh
1st Jisr ash-Shughur
1st Jabal al-Zawiya
Hama
Latakia
v
t
e
Start of insurgency (Sept. 2011 – April 2012)
Homs (2011–14)
Homs offensive
1st Idlib Gov.
Syrian–Turkish border
Jabal al-Zawiya
1st Idlib City
Saraqeb
1st Rastan
Hama Gov.
Shayrat & Tiyas ambush
Daraa Gov.
1st Rif Dimashq
1st Zabadani
Douma
Deir ez-Zor (2011–2014)
Hatla
Aleppo Gov.
Azaz
2nd Rastan
1st al-Qusayr
2nd Idlib Gov.
Taftanaz
v
t
e
UN ceasefire; Rebel advances (May 2012 – Dec. 2013)
Foreign intervention on behalf of Syrian Arab Republic
Russian involvement
2015 military intervention
Iranian intervention
2017 missile strike
Iran–Israel conflict
2012 Hezbollah involvement
Foreign intervention in behalf of Syrian rebels
Foreign rebel fighters
Turkish involvement
Turkey–Islamic State conflict
Tomb of Suleyman Shah relocation
Euphrates Shield
2017 airstrikes
Idlib Governorate operation
Afrin operation
2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria
Israel's role
U.S.-led intervention against ISIL
U.S.-led Intervention
Timeline
List of attacks
2014 rescue operation
May 2015 raid
2017 missile strikes
Qatari involvement
Jordanian intervention
Operation Martyr Muath
Lebanon's role
Saudi involvement
April 2018 missile strikes
Dutch involvement
German intervention
French intervention
Australian intervention
UK intervention
v
t
e
Rif Dimashq campaign (Syrian civil war)
1st Rif Dimashq
1st Zabadani
1st Douma
1st Damascus
MID bombing
2nd Rif Dimashq
1st Darayya
3rd Rif Dimashq
2nd Darayya
Darayya & Muadamiyat
1st Yarmouk
2nd Damascus
4th Rif Dimashq
Eastern Ghouta
Jdaidet al-Fadl
Ghouta
Ma'loula
5th Rif Dimashq
1st Qalamoun
Adra
Al-Otaiba
Al-Malihah
2nd Qalamoun
Arsal
6th Rif Dimashq
2nd Yarmouk
3rd Qalamoun
2nd Zabadani
2nd Douma
7th Rif Dimashq
Sayyidah Zaynab
Al-Dumayr
8th Rif Dimashq
1st East Ghouta inter-rebel conflict
9th Rif Dimashq
1st Eastern Qalamoun
Khan al-Shih
Wadi Barada
1st Syrian Desert
Qaboun
2nd East Ghouta inter-rebel conflict
2nd Syrian Desert
Jobar
4th Qalamoun
Harasta
Beit Jinn
1st Southern Damascus
10th Rif Dimashq
Douma
2nd Southern Damascus
2nd Eastern Qalamoun
3rd Southern Damascus
The Ghouta chemical attack, was a chemical attack carried out by the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in the early hours of 21 August 2013 in Ghouta, Syria during the Syrian civil war.[17] Two opposition-controlled areas in the suburbs around Damascus were struck by rockets containing the chemical agent sarin.[16] Estimates of the death toll range from at least 281 people[3] to 1,729.[15] The attack was the deadliest use of chemical weapons since the Iran–Iraq War.[20][21]
^ abCite error: The named reference HrwPublication was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Final report" (PDF). United Nations Mission to Investigate Alleged Uses of Chemical Weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic. 13 December 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
^ ab"Syria/Syrian chemical programme – National executive summary of declassified intelligence" (PDF). France-Diplomatie – Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development. 3 September 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
^"Syria: Reported Chemical Weapons Use" (PDF). U.K. Joint Intelligence Organisation. 29 August 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 December 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
^ abCite error: The named reference MSF_neurotoxic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Activists report 1,300 are killed in Syria gas attack". Buenos Aires Herald. 21 August 2013. Archived from the original on 1 October 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
^Espo, David (31 August 2013). "Obama seeks Congressional OK for Syria strike". Boston Globe. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
^"Syrian opposition claims chemical attack by Assad forces kills 635". Journal of Turkish Weekly. 21 August 2013. Archived from the original on 30 August 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
^"Latest Killed". The Violations Documenting Center in Syria. Archived from the original on 14 September 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
^"Syrian opposition: 1,300 killed in chemical attack on Ghouta region". Al Arabiya. 21 August 2013. Archived from the original on 24 August 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
^"Syria Today 21-8-2013". Local Coordination Committees of Syria. 21 August 2013. Archived from the original on 27 August 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
^"The Eighth Anniversary of the Largest Chemical Weapons Attack by the Syrian Regime against Syrian Citizens in the Two Ghoutas of Damascus, Still Without Accountability". 20 August 2021.
^"Government Assessment of the Syrian Government's Use of Chemical Weapons on August 21, 2013". whitehouse.gov. 30 August 2013. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2015 – via National Archives.
^Entous, Adam; Malas, Nour; Abushakra, Rima (22 November 2013). "As Syrian Chemical Attack Loomed, Missteps Doomed Civilians". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
^ ab"Bodies still being found after alleged Syria chemical attack: opposition". The Daily Star. Lebanon. 22 August 2013. Archived from the original on 22 August 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
^ ab"Attacks on Ghouta: Analysis of Alleged Use of Chemical Weapons in Syria". Human Rights Watch. 10 September 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2022. Based on the available evidence, Human Rights Watch finds that Syrian government forces were almost certainly responsible for the August 21 attacks.
^ abEastern And Western Ghouta Sarin Attack (PDF) (Report). Civil Rights Defenders et al. April 2021. Evidence collected in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, and over the last seven years, demonstrates that the Syrian government carried out the attacks.
^"Victims of Syrian gov't chemical attacks file case in Sweden". Al Jazeera. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
^ abCite error: The named reference Reuters November 2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^S.B. (21 August 2013). "Syria's war: If this isn't a red line, what is?". The Economist. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
^"Syria gas attack: death toll at 1,400 worst since Halabja". The Week. 22 August 2013. Archived from the original on 25 August 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).
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Global Information
Syrian government[16][17][18][note 1]