- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Syria's Aleppo Heavily Mined, Clearance Requires Joint Int'l Efforts

© Ministry of defence of the Russian Federation / Go to the mediabankMilitary engineers of the Russian Army's international counter-mine center continue the demining operation in eastern Aleppo, Syria
Military engineers of the Russian Army's international counter-mine center continue the demining operation in eastern Aleppo, Syria - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Considering importance of the demining task in Syria's Aleppo for implementation of humanitarian programs it is necessary to provide international assistance to Russia both on bilateral and multilateral basis, according to a diplomatic source.

Smoke rises after rebel fighters launch a mortar shell on a residential neighborhood in western Aleppo, Syria - Sputnik International
Nour al-Din al-Zenki Militants Reportedly Shell Western Aleppo
GENEVA (Sputnik) — Moscow calls on the United Nations and other international organizations to provide the Russian military with assistance in demining Syria's city of Aleppo, which has been left heavily mined by the militant groups, a diplomatic source told Sputnik on Thursday.

"According to the estimates of Russia's military, the scale of mining in Aleppo is very large. Russia's International Mine Action Center is working practically round-the-clock. Considering importance of the demining task for implementation of humanitarian programs it is necessary to provide international assistance to Russia both on bilateral and multilateral basis," the diplomatic source said.

The so-called Arab Spring protests in Syria that took place in 2011 resulted in clashes between the government forces and opposition. Since then, the Middle Eastern country has been mired in a civil war between authorities in Damascus, numerous opposition factions, as well as terrorist groups. The city of Aleppo has become one of the main battlegrounds of the war.

Russian army sappers work at the historic part of Palmyra, Syria, in this photo released by Russian Ministry of Defence on April 9, 2016 - Sputnik International
Russian Combat Engineers Arrive in Syria for Aleppo Mine-Clearing
On December 16, the Russian Defense Ministry's center for Syrian reconciliation said that the Syrian army operation to liberate the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo was over, and that the Syrian government troops were eliminating separate hotbeds of militant resistance.

On December 23, Maj. Gen. Zaid Saleh, the head of Aleppo's security committee, told Sputnik that over 31,000 militants and members of their families had left eastern districts of Aleppo under the agreement with the Syrian government.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала