by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief
UNITED NATIONS (Worthy News) – Syria has begun destroying chemical weapons materials left behind by the Assad regime, marking the first known destruction process of its kind in the country in roughly a decade, officials told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday.
Syria’s U.N. envoy, Ibrahim Olabi, said the new authorities in Damascus have started dismantling materials identified by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the international watchdog tasked with enforcing the Chemical Weapons Convention.
The move comes after Syria’s post-Assad leadership reportedly discovered remnants of Bashar al-Assad’s clandestine chemical weapons program earlier this year, including raw materials and munitions tied to weapons long accused of being used against civilians during Syria’s civil war.
“This is the very first destruction process since we have been liberated from the previous regime,” Olabi told the council, according to reports.
The OPCW confirmed that 42 aerial bombs had been destroyed, while U.S. officials urged Damascus to continue cooperating with international inspectors. Russia and China also welcomed the development, calling it a step toward closing one of the darkest chapters of Syria’s war.
Olabi said Syria is working to protect both its own people and the wider region by securing and destroying the dangerous materials, though he also accused Israeli strikes of complicating search and destruction efforts.
The development is significant for a nation still emerging from more than a decade of war, dictatorship, foreign intervention, and regional instability. For years, Assad’s chemical weapons program stood as one of the most brutal symbols of the regime’s willingness to use terror against its own people. Its dismantling, if fully verified, could mark an important step toward accountability and regional security.
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