Interfax - Russia & CIS Military Newswire
 Monday 6:51 PM MSK


Armenia to send doctors, sappers to Aleppo

YEREVAN. Sept 10

Armenia is planning to send military medics, engineers, mine clearance
experts to Syria to provide assistance to Aleppo residents, Armenian
Deputy Defense Minister Gabriel Balayan said.

"Those are doctors, engineers, mine clearance experts, people of a
humanitarian occupation, who will help Aleppo residents, mainly its
Armenian community. On the basis of a request of the Syrian
government, we will send experts, who would try to provide assistance
to civilians by means of their knowledge, in addition to humanitarian
aid we are sending," Balayan told Armenia's Radio Liberty.

The group, which is to be sent, will not be a member of any coalition, he said.

"It is exclusively Armenia's assistance. The group is being sent as
part of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254 of 2015
and an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation with Syria. That is
a result of the Armenian-Syrian agreement. The group will be
subordinate to a relevant Armenian agency. But we also do not rule out
certain cooperation with Russia or other parties, if the need should
arise in the process," Balayan said.

The deadline of the sending and the duration of the work have not been
definitively determined, because talks are still ongoing, the deputy
minister said.