# OPCW says inspectors found dozens of undeclared Assad-era chemical munitions in Syria
*By IO Digest Desk*
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said on event date 2026-05-27 that inspectors in Syria had found dozens of previously undeclared chemical bombs and rockets in recent weeks, a discovery that points to major unanswered questions about the full scale of the Assad-era weapons programme. According to the supplied AP extract, the watchdog reported that its teams were able to inspect “high-priority undeclared locations” from the start of the month and found aerial bombs, rockets and other chemical munitions at several sites [Source 12996].
The finding is significant because Syria’s official declarations to the OPCW have long been disputed. When Damascus joined the watchdog in 2013, it said chemical weapons were present at 26 locations. The OPCW, however, has said it has reason to believe there are roughly 100 additional sites. The newly reported discoveries strengthen the argument that Syria’s past disclosures were incomplete and that the physical remnants of the programme extend well beyond what was formally acknowledged more than a decade ago [Source 12996].
AP’s extract places the new inspection activity in the changed political landscape that followed the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Syria’s interim authorities under President Ahmad al-Sharaa have pledged to destroy any chemical weapons that remain from the former regime. The report also cites Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani calling on the international community for help to rid the country of the illegal munitions and saying the new rulers are committed to ending that legacy and complying with international law [Source 12996].
That shift matters because the OPCW has spent years documenting discrepancies, disputed declarations and evidence of repeated use of chemical weapons during the civil war. The supplied extract states that Assad’s government denied deploying such weapons, even as the watchdog previously found evidence that Syrian forces used them repeatedly. The organisation has also concluded that Islamic State fighters used chemical weapons during the conflict, a reminder that the issue is not limited to one actor even if the current discovery concerns Assad-era stockpiles [Source 12996].
The latest report does not by itself settle how many undeclared sites remain or how quickly remaining munitions can be secured and destroyed. But it does move the issue from suspicion to fresh physical evidence. Bombs and rockets left at undeclared locations represent not just a historical record of concealment but an active disarmament problem for Syria’s new authorities and for the international inspectors working with them [Source 12996].
What the supplied evidence supports is clear: inspectors found dozens of undeclared chemical munitions, the finds were made at high-priority sites visited in recent weeks, and the discoveries expose continuing gaps between Syria’s past declarations and what remains on the ground. In a country still emerging from war and regime change, those gaps carry security, legal and moral consequences long after the original attacks were denied [Source 12996].
