Last chemical weapons shipped out of Syria

The Foreign Ministry said the success of the operation ensures that chemicals won’t be used against civilians again

A naval task-force, which has for the last half-year been assisting the OPCW-UN mission to remove chemical weapons from Syria, picked up the final containers on Monday, the Defence Ministry has announced.

The weapons were loaded aboard the Danish ship Ark Futura that departed from the Syrian port of Latakia after tax authority SKAT scanned the containers.

Denmark decided in December last year to help the international community prevent chemical warfare like the sarin attack in August 2013 that killed nearly 1,400 Syrian civilians.

No end to civil war
Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard was pleased with how the navy handled the operation.

"I am very happy that Denmark, the ships and the crew have solved this extremely important task facing the international community," he said.

Although the mission will not bring closure to the Syrian Civil War, Lidegaard said he was happy the chemical weapons will not be used against civilians again.

"The task is an example that shows that Denmark must be present in the places where we can make the biggest difference."

The chemicals aboard Ark Futura will now be sailed to Italy, where they will be transferred to the American ship Cape Ray, which will then destruct the substances using hydrolose.

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