Syria has formally started demolishing the remains of a covert chemical weapons program from the Assad period. For the first time in more than ten years, chemical weapons are being destroyed on Syrian soil.
According to a Syrian ambassador and a U.N. representative on Thursday, Syria has started destroying the remains of a covert chemical weapons program from the Assad era that it recovered in May.
In May, Reuters revealed that Syria’s new government had discovered traces of former President Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons program, including munitions and raw ingredients comparable to those used in lethal gas attacks during the nation’s civil war.
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At a Security Council briefing on Thursday, Izumi Nakamitsu, the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, stated that the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has confirmed the destruction of chemical weapons in Syria for the first time since 2014.
Syria identified “one additional chemical weapons production facility, a newly discovered chemical used in the production of nerve agents, and empty chemical munitions” after the May discovery. Additionally, two chemical weapons storage sites where the recently found facilities were kept were declared, according to Nakamitsu.
To confirm the destruction of category three chemical weapons—that is, unfilled ammunition and other equipment necessary to discharge chemical weapons—the OPCW sent a team to Syria last month. As part of the effort, she claimed, the team confirmed “the irreversible destruction of 42 aerial bombs.”
Ibrahim Olabi, Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations, informed the council that Syria was “protecting the world and the region through such work.”
However, he harshly denounced Israel, claiming that frequent Israeli attacks had hindered some search and demolition efforts and put the Syrian teams at work in danger.
Olabi, whose Arabic comments were translated at the council, stated, “We cannot safeguard the security of the region if our security is exposed to attacks at the hands of Israel, and they are flouting the security of the region at large, and they are breaching the conventions and treaties we have talked about.”
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According to Olabi, Syria is getting ready to hold the first court appearance for those suspected of being involved in the chemical weapons program.
Eighteen suspects, including senior military, political, and technical personnel, were detained by Syrian authorities earlier this year on suspicion of being involved in Assad’s chemical weapons program.
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