Armenia sends more mine-clearing experts, doctors to Syria

YEREVAN, Armenia – Armenia has sent a new team of experts to Syria to help clear mines and provide medical assistance.

The Armenian Defence Ministry said Wednesday that the group replaced a team of 83 de-mining experts, medical personnel and security officers who had served a stint in Syria earlier this year. One of the Armenian mine-clearing experts lost his foot in a mine explosion.

Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan says the group that arrived in Aleppo on Tuesday will conduct the mine-clearing effort in conformity with international standards. The team will also provide medical assistance to residents of Aleppo where it will be based.

Before the war, Aleppo in northern Syria was home to 110,000 ethnic Armenians, one of the world’s largest Armenian diasporas. About 22,000 have since moved to Armenia.