BRUSSELS, August 28 (RIA Novosti) – The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has destroyed 93 percent of chemical weapons agents removed from Syria, according to a report it released on Thursday.
“At the cut-off date of this report, 100 percent of the Category 1 chemicals and 65 percent of the Category 2 chemicals had been destroyed, representing a combined total of 93 percent, including the isopropanol previously destroyed in the Syrian Arab Republic,” the paper reads.
Earlier in August, the OPCW reported it destroyed 84.3 percent of Syria’s chemical weapons, including chemical precursors used for the production of sarin gas, an extremely dangerous nerve agent considered a weapon of mass destruction.
Sarin gas was used in a chemical attack that killed almost 1,500 people in Eastern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, on August 21, 2013. The investigation has not revealed whether the Syrian government or the rebels were responsible for the attack; however, back then US President Barack Obama urged Congress to sanction a limited military operation to prevent chemical weapons proliferation in the region. Shortly before the congressional vote on the issue, the Syrian government announced it would voluntarily get rid of its toxic weapons arsenal, placing its stockpiles under international control.
The armed conflict in Syria has killed more than 191,000 since it broke out in March 2011, according to UN estimates. Government troops are opposed by numerous militias, including terrorist groups, recruiting fighters from all over the world.
