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Syria chemical equipment destroyed, says OPCW | |
(35 minutes later) | |
Syria's declared equipment for producing, mixing and filling chemical weapons has been destroyed, sources with the international watchdog say. | |
An announcement by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is expected later - a day before its deadline which Syria had to meet. | |
Inspectors were sent to Syria following allegations that government forces had used chemical weapons in civilian areas, killing scores of people. | |
The government denies the accusations. | |
The inspections were agreed between Russia and the US after Washington threatened to use force in Syria. | |
The US says more than 1,400 people were killed during a nerve agent attack in Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus on 21 August. | |
Syria and Russia believe rebel groups were responsible for the attack. | |
Syria's chemical weapons arsenal is believed to include more than 1,000 tonnes of the nerve gas sarin, the blister agent sulphur mustard and other banned chemicals, stored at dozens of sites. | |
It has until mid-2014 to destroy its chemical weapons stockpile. |