First batch of chemicals leaves Syria, rebels hold internal ceasefire

On January 7, the joint mission overseeing the disarmament of Syria's chemical weapons said the first batch of chemicals had been shipped out of Syria under an agreement to destroy the country's chemical weapons stockpile.

"The first batch of chemical agents was moved from the two sites to the port of Latakia for verification and then loaded onto a Danish commercial vessel today. This initiates the process of transferring chemical agents from Syria to locations outside the country for destruction," the mission said in a statement.

Illustration photo. (Source: israeltoday.com)

In a related development on the same day, Al-Nusra Front leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani called for a ceasefire between rival factions in Syria after five days of the bloodiest internal fighting since the start of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

The leader also blamed another Al-Qaeda-linked group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), for the clash.

According to statistics from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), at least 274 people were killed after 4 days of fighting between rebels and Islamic jihadists, including 129 moderate fighters and members of Islamic rebel groups, 99 members of ISIL and 46 civilians./.

According to VNA