OPCW: Aleppo weapons site dismantled

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- A chemical weapons site confirmed in Aleppo, Syria, was found to be dismantled and heavily damaged by war, a U.N. weapons inspection team said.

A joint United Nations mission with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said it was able to reach a disclosed weapons site in Aleppo.

"The additional site inspected is in the region of Aleppo and was one of the two sites that could not be visited earlier due to safety and security reasons," a U.N. spokesperson said Thursday. "The site was confirmed as dismantled and long abandoned, with the building showing extensive battle damage."

The team is mandated to destroy Syria's ability to manufacture chemical weapons. The joint mission said the verification at Aleppo was completed through the use of "sealed cameras used by Syrian personnel as per the inspection team's guidance."

Russian authorities in March accused rebel forces of using sarin nerve gas during an early battle in an Aleppo suburb. A U.N. inspection team this summer confirmed sarin was used as a weapon of war in a suburb in Damascus. The team wasn't mandated to assess blame.

OPCW Director General Ahmet Uzumcu said Tuesday the Syrian government submitted to it a plan for the destruction of its chemical weapons arsenal. "The most viable option available" is to destroy those weapons outside the country because of the security situation, he said.