Syria has begun destroying remnants of the chemical weapons program developed under former President Bashar Al-Assad, marking the first verified destruction of chemical munitions in the country in a decade, according to Syrian and United Nations officials quoted by Reuters.
The remnants were discovered by Syria’s new leadership in May and included raw materials and munitions resembling those used in deadly chemical attacks during the country’s civil war. Since then, Syrian authorities have identified additional elements of the former program.
Speaking at a UN Security Council briefing on Thursday, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu said the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had verified the destruction of chemical munitions in Syria for the first time since 2014.
Following the May discovery, Syria located “one additional chemical weapons production facility, a newly discovered chemical used in the production of nerve agents, and empty chemical munitions. It also declared two chemical weapons storage facilities where the newly discovered facilities were being stored,” Nakamitsu said.
The OPCW sent a team to Syria last month to oversee the destruction of Category 3 chemical weapons, which include unfilled munitions and other equipment designed to release chemical agents. Nakamitsu said the team confirmed “the irreversible destruction of 42 aerial bombs”.
Syria’s ambassador to the UN, Ibrahim Olabi, said the effort was intended to protect other countries in the region and beyond.
Syria was “protecting the world and the region through such work”, Olabi told the Security Council.
At the same time, Olabi accused Israel of hindering some of the efforts to locate and destroy the chemical weapons remnants, saying Israeli attacks had created risks for Syrian teams involved in the operations.
Olabi also said Syria was preparing for the first court hearing involving suspects accused of participating in the former chemical weapons program.
Syrian authorities detained 18 suspects earlier this year over alleged involvement in the program, including senior military, political and technical figures. In April, Syria’s interior minister announced the detention of a former general from the Assad regime who is accused of direct involvement in the 2013 chemical attack on Eastern Ghouta.
US intelligence assessments have estimated that more than 1,000 civilians were killed by sarin nerve gas in the Damascus suburb during the 2013 civil war attack. The assault was widely blamed on forces loyal to Assad, who was removed from power in late 2024.
The Assad regime repeatedly denied involvement in chemical weapons attacks in Syria and dismissed OPCW investigations into the attacks as “fabricated”.
Following Assad’s fall, Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani said in March of last year that the new authorities were committed to eliminating any chemical weapons that remained in the country.