The Syrian government says rebels have attacked a pair of storage sites for the regime’s chemical weapons stockpile. The news comes days after the first shipment of weapons was loaded onto a ship to begin the disarmament process agreed to last year. At the United Nations, Sigrid Kaag, the top official overseeing the removal of Syria’s chemical weapons, says she expects the Assad regime to meet a June deadline for the stockpile’s complete destruction.

Sigrid Kaag: “I didn’t say we’re on schedule. But I think what we talked about is a collective expectation by the Security Council, of course, full support of the joint mission, that looking at the end of June deadline that there is no reason to assume that delays should occur. All things being equal, we also have to remember Syria is a country at war. Security situation can shift from day to day. But everything is ready, investment is made, and the authorities have shown that first movements have started to happen.”