Russia planes in Syria for arms removal

Russia’s ambassador to Syria says Moscow has deployed ten airplanes carrying equipment to assist in the elimination operation of Syria’s chemical weapons.

Azamat Kulmukhametov said on Thursday that the aircraft transporting the equipment have landed in the Syrian port city of Latakia.

“An air bridge has been established to deliver the technology and the equipment necessary for assisting the operation for the removal of the chemical weapons from Syria,” the Russian diplomat said.

“Today there have been 10 flights to Latakia and this is going to continue.”

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is supervising the removal of Syria’s chemical arms, has said that Russian armored trucks will help take the weapons out of the country.

Nordic vessels are set to collect the chemicals from Latakia and take them to a port in Italy, where they will be loaded onto a US ship for annihilation.

In September, Russia and the United States agreed on a deal under which Syria would have its chemical weapons eliminated and the US would in return refrain from planned strikes on the Arab country.

The war rhetoric against Syria intensified after foreign-backed opposition forces falsely accused the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of launching a chemical attack on militant strongholds in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21.

The Syrian government denied the accusations and said the attack was carried out by the militants to draw in military intervention.