International weapons inspectors in Syria have visited three sites so far across the country as part of program to destroy the country’s chemical arms stockpile.

International weapons inspectors in Syria have visited three sites so far across the country as part of program to destroy the country’s chemical arms stockpile.

The UN has tasked the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to rid Syria of its stockpile by mid-2014.

Twenty-seven inspectors are expected to visit over 20 sites.

OPCW spokesman Michael Luhan said Thursday in The Hague that the first series of sites on the inspectors' list are “relatively securely” within government-held territory.

In this context, a second team of international chemical weapons inspectors arrived in Damascus on Thursday. They will help supervise the destruction of Syria's chemical arsenal under the terms of a UN resolution.

Three UN vehicles carrying inspectors departed from their Damascus hotel en route to an undisclosed location, AFP reported.

Michael Luhan, a spokesman for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said 12 new experts had arrived, bringing the total number to 27.

An “advance team” of 19 arrived last week but four have since returned to The Hague. They completed a “third site visit yesterday,” Luhan said, adding that they will presumably have more site visits on Thursday.