Syria continues to make discoveries of chemical weapons from the previous Assad regime. Although most of the former regime’s weapons stockpile was supposed to have been removed in 2013-2014 after it was used to massacre people, some of it remained.
Now, the Syrian state media SANA has said that “Syria achieves progress in elimination of remnants of Assad-Era Chemical Weapons.”
The SANA report notes that “the Permanent Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said that searches and investigations conducted by the Syrian Arab Republic have led to the identification of sites linked to the Assad-era chemical weapons programme.”
In a separate report by the AFP in Arab News, it was reported on Wednesday that “dozens of undeclared chemical weapons have been found in Syria, a global watchdog said on Tuesday, in its monthly report on its activities in the country.” That report noted that the OPCW team had deployed earlier this month “to verify the accuracy and completeness” of Syria’s declaration about its chemical weapons stockpiles.
A search was carried out on “high-priority undeclared locations.” This happened in Latakia, apparently, an area that the former regime considered to be populated by loyalists and an area where there is a Russian military base.
Search finds dozens of undeclared chemical munitions
“Dozens of undeclared chemical munitions such as aerial bombs and rockets, as well as separately found chemicals and related equipment... have been found at several of these undeclared locations, together with thousands of pages of documentation,” the report said. The Arab News report noted that “Syria joined the OPCW in 2013 and agreed to reveal and hand over its stockpiles of toxic agents for destruction, under pressure from Russia and the United States to avoid the threat of airstrikes from Washington and its allies.”
The US and UK decided against airstrikes in 2013 after Assad used chemical weapons. The Trump administration did go through with strikes in 2017.
SANA noted that Syria’s permanent mission to the OPCW said: “all materials, munitions, and equipment were transferred to dedicated chemical storage facilities following verification by the Technical Secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), pending their destruction in a manner that ensures the prevention of any risk to civilians, the environment, or national, regional, and global security.”
Syria has established a “Breath of Freedom” Task Force to complete the task. “Since the liberation of Syria, national teams have facilitated visits by OPCW inspection teams to 32 suspected sites and submitted evaluation reports concerning 14 additional locations. These efforts have helped establish priorities and significantly reduce the number of suspected sites,” the Syrian statement added.
In addition, Syria has detained “a number of high-ranking officers were arrested, in addition to former experts from the Scientific Studies and Research Centre, as well as officers from the security apparatus who had been overseeing the Assad regime’s chemical weapons programme, contributing to the provision of further information regarding remnants of this programme.”
SANA added that the Syrian government has said that “the Syrian Arab Republic reaffirms that these efforts are undertaken within the framework of its commitment to eliminating the legacy of chemical weapons, ensuring accountability for those responsible for their use against Syrians, and preventing the recurrence of such crimes, in a manner that strengthens national, regional, and global security and stability, and reflects its commitment to fulfilling its international obligations.”
