DHAKA: The last of Syria’s declared chemical weapons have been shipped out of the country for destruction.

The international watchdog OPCW says, reports the BBC.

‘The ship has just left the port,’ the head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Ahmet Uzumcu, said in The Hague.

The operation to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal is several months behind schedule.

More than 160,000 people have died in three years of the Syrian conflict.

The operation to completely destroy Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile was meant to have been completed by 30 June.

Fighting and the threat of attack by rebel groups severely delayed the removal of the weapons, analysts say.

BDST: 2034 HRS, JUNE 23, 2014