Damascus, Sept. 2 (SANA) Syria has received a GCS-100 mine-clearance machine, with a GCS-200 due to arrive Thursday, as Syrian-German cooperation seeks to accelerate mine detection and clearance operations while reducing risks to volunteers, a Syrian Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday.
Abdulkarim Ekzayez, director of European relations at the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, said the cooperation is being carried out through a joint Syrian-German committee launched in July.
“The GCS-100 has arrived, and the GCS-200 will arrive tomorrow, allowing mine detection and clearance operations to be accelerated without putting the lives of volunteers at risk,” Ekzayez said.
Niels Annen, state secretary at Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), linked mine clearance to broader reconstruction efforts.
“After many years of destruction, we want to contribute to reconstruction, and mine clearance is a key element of that,” Annen said.
He said mines remain widespread in many of Syria’s main population centers, posing an obstacle to reconstruction and the rehabilitation of infrastructure.
Fadi al-Saleh, director of the National Mine Action Center, described the current cooperation on mine clearance as a historic step that could shorten years of work by drawing on international expertise.
F.J./M
