Armenia Temporarily Suspends Humanitarian Demining and Medical Mission in Aleppo, Syria

YEREVAN – On the evening of November 29, the entire team of Armenian humanitarian demining and medical workers, operating as part of a mission in Aleppo, Syria, returned to Armenia aboard a military transport plane provided by the Ministry of Defense.

The Ministry of Defense announced that, in light of the current situation on the ground, a decision was made to temporarily suspend the group’s activities in Aleppo.

“In recent days, the operational situation in several regions of the Syrian Arab Republic has significantly deteriorated, leading to the onset of active military operations. This escalation has rendered it impossible for the Armenian humanitarian demining and medical team, which has been conducting its mission in the Aleppo region since 2019, to continue its activities. Consequently, a decision was made to temporarily suspend the team’s operations in Aleppo,” the Ministry stated in an official announcement.

Since 2019, the Armenian professional team has been carrying out its mission in Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city. However, the recent sharp escalation in the operational situation has caused active military confrontations to erupt in several regions of the country.

Anti-government armed groups have reached the outskirts of Aleppo and are advancing toward the city center, launching a large-scale offensive. Thousands of Turkish-backed militants, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, have seized more than 60 settlements within just a few days, amounting to approximately 400 square kilometers across the Aleppo and Idlib provinces.