Syria on track to ship out chemical weapons materials by deadline

AP Photo/Petros Karadjias

Syria on track to ship out chemical weapons materials by deadline
(Image credit: AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Officials from the international mission tasked with monitoring Syria's chemical weapons disarmament say the operation is running on schedule.

"The renewed pace in movements is positive," Sigrid Kaag, special coordinator of the joint mission between the United Nations and the OPCW, told Reuters. "(It is) necessary to ensure progress towards a tight deadline."

That deadline — April 27 — is quickly approaching, but Kaag said Syria had shipped out or destroyed nearly 80 percent of its declared chemical weapons material. The international community pressured Syria to give up its chemical weapons cache after a sarin gas attack killed hundreds of people in the country last August.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The pace is all the more impressive as the United States and Russia are currently at odds over Moscow's involvement in Ukraine. The two countries had worked together last September to ensure cooperation from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on removing the country's chemical weapons materials, with Russian President Vladimir Putin ultimately securing the agreement.

Even as Syria moves more of its stockpiled chemical weapons out, though, reports continue to surface of new chemical weapons attacks in the country. The government and rebel forces are trading accusations over the most recent alleged incident; a chlorine gas attack which both sides agree took place in the central village of Kafr Zeita.

Should Syria succeed in moving out 100 percent of its declared chemical weapons material by the deadline, the international community will need to bear in mind that key word, anyway: Declared.

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Sarah Eberspacher

Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.