Chemical Assault

The first use of chemical agents as weapons of mass destruction occurred during World War I. Chemical weapons were also used during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), and were a concern during both the Gulf War (1990-1991) and the later US-led invasion of Iraq (2003). In between these latter two wars, such weapons were used by a terrorist group in Japan. In the images here, a German soldier wears a gas mask, top left, during an attack in World War I; a subway passenger in Tokyo, Japan, top right, is aided by two others after succumbing to nerve gas released in 1995 by the religious sect Aum Shinri Kyo; and an explosion at an Iraqi ammunition bunker, bottom, after the Gulf War, exposes US troops to a chemical agent.

Hulton Getty/Liaison Agency, Kurt Cashion/Sygma, Asahi Shimbun/Sygma

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Chemical and Biological Warfare

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