Chemical warfare
- Sarin bomblets for use on the Honest John rocket
- White phosphorus explosion during training at Edgewood Arsenal
- Iranian soldier wearing gas mask during the Iran-Iraq War
- Postwar disposal of mustard gas produced by Japan on Ōkunoshima during World War II
- French gas attack in Flanders, World War I
- Tear gas used in Incheon during the June Democratic Struggle
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Chemical warfare (CW) involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from nuclear warfare, biological warfare and radiological warfare, which together make up CBRN, the military acronym for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (warfare or weapons), all of which are considered "weapons of mass destruction" (WMDs), a term that contrasts with conventional weapons.
The use of chemical weapons in international armed conflicts is prohibited under international humanitarian law by the 1925 Geneva Protocol and the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907. The 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention prohibits signatories from acquiring, stockpiling, developing, and using chemical weapons in all circumstances except for very limited purposes (research, medical, pharmaceutical or protective).