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Syria Begins Destroying CW Stockpiles
October 2026
By Libby Flatoff
Syria has begun the destruction of its chemical munitions arsenal with the confirmed eradication of 42 aerial bombs, according to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
The OPCW, which is overseeing the operation, reported the development to a UN Security Council meeting Sept. 3. It marked the first destruction of chemical munitions since the former government of President Bashar al-Assad acknowledged it possessed the weapons in 2012.
During the Security Council meeting, UN officials reconfirmed that 19 of the 26 outstanding issues concerning Syria’s initial chemical weapons declaration remain to be resolved. Some of these outstanding issues involve gaining clarity on any undeclared nerve agents and ensuring the integrity of the verification process.
Denmark’s deputy representative to the OPCW, Sandra Jensen Landi, commended Syria’s work on beginning the destruction process, but stressed the need for continued international commitment and support to ensure Syria addresses the 19 unresolved issues.
Syrian Ambassador to the OPCW Mohamad Katoub discussed the destruction progress during an Arms Control Association webinar Sept. 16. “We are now working with the [OPCW] Technical Secretariat and our international partners on next stages, planning for future deployment and appropriate methods for destruction within the capacity in Syria,” he said.
Katoub noted the support and assistance from the Breath of Freedom task force—comprising Canada, France, Germany, Qatar, Syria, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States—which was established in March to assist Syria’s chemical munitions destruction. “I would say we are in good hands with the experts that are supporting us from the Breath of Freedom and members and also from the Technical Secretariat who helped us,” he said.
Katoub said Syria is “starting step by step with mechanical destruction now for items under Category 3, which is basically unfilled munitions, but exploring how we can implement other types of destruction.”
When asked how Syria plans to continue the destruction of its stockpiles and if it has the infrastructure to continue doing that safely, Katoub said: “The plan is to explore every possible destruction method that we can do in Syria. If not, then we might consider destruction in other country using either a third party or with the help of the Breath of Freedom members.”
Although Katoub said that “mechanical destruction … is not complicated,” he acknowledged obstacles to the destruction effort, including “the national capacity, available infrastructure, and also the safety measures that we can apply in Syria for other types of destruction.”
Earlier in 2026, OPCW inspectors uncovered a new cache of undeclared chemical weapons and documentation. (See ACT, July/August 2026.) Katoub said that “the bombs that we located this year in May have some complications that we are exploring how we can do this.”
Syria became a party to the Chemical Weapons Convention and an OPCW member state in 2013. The next conference of CWC states-parties is scheduled for Nov. 23-27.