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Syria has started the long-delayed destruction of a dozen underground bunkers and hangars that were used for the production and storage of chemical weapons, diplomatic sources told Reuters on Monday.

Damascus last year handed over 1,300 metric tonnes of toxic agents after joining the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), but it is months behind schedule in destroying the facilities used to make and store its deadly stockpile.

Work at a first tunnel began on Dec. 24, but was delayed by winter storms. The site will be sealed off with cement walls by the end of January, said one source in The Hague, where the global chemical weapons watchdog is based.

"The work finally began, which is good news," said another source. "There were some technical issues and the bad weather has slowed up the process."

Syria joined the OPCW after a sarin gas attack killed more than 1,000 people in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta on Aug. 21, 2013, prompting threats of military intervention by the United States, which blamed President Bashar al-Assad's government. Assad's government and rebels blamed each other.

U.S. President Barack Obama called off military action against Damascus after Syria agreed to destroy its chemical stockpiles. A year later the United States began a bombing campaign against Islamic State militants in Syria with the tacit approval of Assad, which still continues.