MOSCOW. March 16 (Interfax) - One more group of bomb disposal experts from the Russian Armed Forces' International Mine Action Center has arrived in Syria to help clear the ancient city of Palmyra of mines, the Russian Defense Ministry told Interfax on Thursday.
"The personnel, military hardware and equipment of a Russian Armed Forces' Mine Action Center unit were promptly airlifted by military transport aircraft from the Chkalovsky airfield to the Hmeimim airbase. Afterwards, the group reached [the designated district] using its authorized hardware and started to demine the city," it said.
The bomb disposal experts are clearing primarily roads leading to the city's social infrastructure facilities, such as hospitals and water and power supply facilities, as well as the historic part of Palmyra, it said.
Some prospective equipment intended to search for and detect explosive substances and to protect bomb disposal experts will be tested in practice for the first time during these mine-clearance efforts, it said.
More than 150 specialists from the Russian Armed Forces International Mine Action Center and 17 units of special-purpose equipment arrived in Palmyra, the ministry said. The group also includes a K9 service unit with mine detection dogs.
"The mine action detachment of the Russian Armed Forces Mine Action Center is fully autonomous and is equipped with state-of-the-art mine-clearance and life support kits," it said.