The deadly chemical attack is the latest to hit Syria in 6 years of brutal civil war — here's what happened

One of the most devastating chemical attacks to take place during the six-year civil war in Syria has left dozens of people — including many children — dead or critically injured in the rebel-held province of Idlib.

At least 70 people died in what activists and Western leaders have described as an airstrike conducted by the Syrian military in the northern town of Khan Sheikhoun on Tuesday.

While the United Nations and Western leaders have quickly condemned the attack, the war that has left more than 450,000 Syrians dead and 12 million permanently displaced shows no sign of ending soon. Less than 24 hours after the chemical attack, more airstrikes reportedly started hitting the same part of town.

Here's what happened and how the conflict escalated to this point.

Early on Tuesday, a military plane dropped a bomb on a building in the center of rural Khan Sheikhoun. Victims and medical professionals in the area said the large cloud of smoke caused many residents to pass out.

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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights first said at least 58 people, among them 11 children, passed out from inhaling the toxic chemicals released into the air. Many others died later after the initial exposure.

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Minutes later, three strikes hit the center of town, exploding in the roads and surrounding buildings.

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Doctors from the surrounding areas said over 500 people were rushed to clinics. "Most of the hospitals in Idlib province are now overflowing with wounded people," Mounzer Khalil, head of Idlib's health authority, told Reuters.

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The chemical, which the World Health Organization said could be a nerve agent, caused many people to choke, foam at the mouth, and writhe in pain before passing out. "It was like a winter fog," Mariam Abu Khalil, a teenager who saw several residents of her hometown die, told The New York Times.

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In the last week alone, two other chemical attacks were reported near Idlib province, which is held by rebels opposing Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.

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Both international and local groups have said Assad's forces carried out the strike. Amid worldwide outrage over the attack, the Syrian government still "categorically rejected" any responsibility.

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On Wednesday, Western and Middle Eastern leaders observed a moment of silence at a Brussels conference aimed at finding solutions to end the war. The chemical attack added extra urgency to the discussion.

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The deadliest war of the 21st century started when Assad ordered the killing and imprisonment of protesters amid the Arab Spring in 2011. The conflict has escalated to involve Western powers and Russia, and more than 450,000 Syrians have been killed in sieges, military strikes, and air bombings.

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International groups have accused the Syrian government of using chemical attacks several times. The deadliest one took place in 2013 when aerial drops of the nerve agent sarin killed over 1,000 people near the country's capital.

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While the West has supported the rebels, Russia started providing support to Assad's government in 2015. Both the US and Russia have deployed airstrikes in the warring areas.

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A 2017 United Nations report found that both sides committed war crimes in the fight for Aleppo at the end of 2016. Civilians were killed and critically injured in the crossfire.

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The civil war has spurred the largest humanitarian conflict since World War II, with more than 5 million Syrians seeking refugee status in other countries. Nearly half of Syria's citizens have been forced to flee their homes.

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The war has had an especially devastating effect on Syria's children. Many have been killed, recruited as soldiers, or stranded in refugee camps without adequate access to food.

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Trump's administration has offered mixed messages on the possible way out of the Syrian conflict. Breaking with the Obama administration, new US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said forcing Assad from power was no longer a priority.

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President Donald Trump condemned the attack, and has previously urged against using military action in Syria. It's unclear whether the US, or Russia, will strike back against the perpetrators of the chemical attack.

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