Syria Has Shipped Out Less than 5 Percent of Chemical Weapons, Government Has Razed Entire Neighborhoods

Syria has given up less than 5% of its chemical weapons arsenal and will miss next week’s deadline to send all toxic agents abroad for destruction, sources said on Wednesday.

The two shipments this month to the Syrian port of Latakia totaled 4.1% of the roughly 1,300 tons of toxic agents reported by Damascus to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Under a deal agreed by Russia and the U.S. after the August 21 sarin gas attack on the outskirts of Damascus that killed hundreds, Syria vowed to give up its entire stockpile by mid-2014. (Reuters)

Meanwhile, Syrian authorities have deliberately demolished thousands of residential buildings in Damascus and Hama in 2012 and 2013, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today, based on satellite imagery, witness statements, and video and photographic evidence. The report documents seven cases of large-scale demolitions with explosives and bulldozers that violated the laws of war.

The demolitions either served no necessary military purpose and appeared to intentionally punish the civilian population or caused disproportionate harm to civilians. “Wiping entire neighborhoods off the map is not a legitimate tactic of war,” said HRW researcher Ole Solvang.

{Andy Heller-Matzav.com Newscenter}