Nowhere to Hide - Data Portal

Research
Data Portal
Methodology

About the Data Portal

Our interactive map shows you the scale and pervasiveness of the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict. Building on years of painstaking work alongside our Syrian and international partners, our team at GPPi has compiled the most comprehensive dataset of incidents of chemical weapons use in Syria to date.

As of May 2020, it includes 349 confirmed attacks that have occurred since the first recorded incident in late 2012.

You can learn more about these attacks via the Data Portal, download the full dataset or review our methodology.

Munition

Our dataset includes ten distinct munition categories under the variable “Munition Type”. For filtering purposes, we chose to include only six of the ten identified munitions, as the research team has attributed these six types to specific incidents and included technical and contextual detail regarding their deployment in the munitions typology.

The other four munition types are based on indicative, rather than attributive, evidence: while different open, primary and secondary sources mention these four munitions, there is no clear evidence – physical, visual or otherwise – that allow us to definitely attribute and categorize these weapons.

Data Portal

THE
DATASET OUR
APPROACH

Munition Type

Sarin Grenade

Sarin Air-launched

A repurposed hand grenade originally designed for riot control agents and converted to deliver Sarin gas.

Image shows an illustration of two sarin grenades side by side. The grenade on the left is beige and the grenade on the right is brown, both of which have fly-off levers. The two grenades are almost identical in structure, except for two visible filling holes around the body of the beige grenade on the left side. The illustration was commissioned by GPPi and created by Judith Carnaby.

Munition Type

Volcano Rocket

Sarin Ground-launched

A non-standard artillery rocket derived from conventional improvised rocket-assisted munition (IRAM) designs.

Image shows an illustration of an entire Volcano rocket above two close-up illustrations of the Volcano rocket’s warhead: on the left, a frontal view of the warhead that appears circular; and on the right, a side view of the warhead that appears cylindrical. The Volcano rocket is depicted in grey. The illustration was commissioned by GPPi and created by Judith Carnaby.

Munition Type

M-14-S Artillery Rocket

Sarin Ground-launched

A spin-stabilized artillery rocket originally manufactured by the Soviet Union.

Image shows an illustration that includes the body of an M-14-S artillery rocket and a close-up of the rocket’s circular base with ten exhaust nozzles ordered in a circle around a round plate. Next to the illustration of the base is an enlarged version of the same illustration. The M-14-S rocket is depicted in grey. The illustration was commissioned by GPPi and created by Judith Carnaby.

Munition Type

Barrel Bomb

Chlorine Air-launched

An improvised air-delivered chlorine munition with at least seven identified subtypes, split here between an earlier iteration and the more recent barrel bomb design in use since 2016.

Image shows two illustrations of barrel bombs stacked vertically and a zoomed-in depiction of the bomb’s fuse structure below the two illustrations in the bottom right. The bottom illustration shows the simple body of the bomb depicted in yellow and the top illustration shows the bomb’s body inside of a brown steel cradle with attached tail fins, wheels and carrying lugs. The illustration was commissioned by GPPi and created by Judith Carnaby.

Munition Type

Golan Rocket

Chlorine Ground-launched

An improvised munition based on Iranian-made 107mm surface-to-surface rockets. Its design stems from conventional improvised rocket-assisted munition (IRAM) designs used in Iraq in the mid-2000s.

Image shows an illustration of a Golan rocket at the top and a separate zoomed-in depiction of its round circular base below it. The Golan rocket is depicted in grey and brown. The illustration was commissioned by GPPi and created by Judith Carnaby.

Munition Type

M4000 Aerial Bomb

Sarin Air-launched

An unguided aerial munition derived from Soviet-era conventional aerial bombs with adjustments to accommodate chemical agents.

Image shows an illustration of two M4000 bombs stacked vertically. The illustration above depicts the exterior of the bomb and the illustration below shows the interior structures of the bomb. The M4000 bomb is depicted in grey. The illustration was commissioned by GPPi and created by Judith Carnaby.