Deir Ezzor now mine free, displaced civilians welcomed to return
YemenExtra
M.A.
Russian and Syrian mine disposal teams are officially done with their work to clear mines from the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zors, eliminating almost 45,000 explosives, the head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of Warring Parties, Sergei Kuralenko, said on Tuesday.
He said Russian and Syrian specialists “have examined 1,238 hectares of land in the city and adjacent areas as well as 246 kilometers of roads, finding and destroying 44,783 explosives”.
Besides, he said that almost 50 Russians will shortly return to Russia from regions previously controlled by Daesh gunmen. “A new group of 46 fellow countrymen moved out of the areas earlier under control of the terrorist organization ISIS (former name of IS), is getting ready for evacuation to Russia,” he said. The general stated most of them are women and children, many of whom got into Syria and Iraq “by means of deceit”.
Two more Syrian settlements – in Aleppo and Homs provinces, have joined cessation of hostilities with the assistance of Russian military. Russian and Syrian military and representatives of the armed opposition ensured the passage of two humanitarian convoys, providing more than 150 tonnes of aid to Tell-Gehab and al-Taiba settlements in Daraa province in the southern de-escalation zone.