Destruction was completed on 31 January. OPCW inspectors verified and declared the structure as destroyed, the organization said in a statement published on its website.
“I welcome the destruction of the first facility, which had been delayed due to some technical reasons. I am hopeful that remaining destruction activities will proceed according to the plan,” OPCW Director-General Ahmet Uzumcu said as quoted in the statement.
Syria joined the OPCW after a sarin gas attack near Damascus killed over 1,000 people in August 2013. The Syrian government and rebel forces have traded blame for the attack.
Following the incident, some 1,400 metric tons of designated chemical-weapons material were removed from the country. Syria is now dismantling underground bunkers, tunnels and hangars where chemical agents and precursor materials were produced and stored.
