Russia sent 75 trucks for Syria arms removal

Russia has air-lifted to Syria 75 vehicles and other equipment to help in the multinational operation to remove and destroy the country's chemical weapons, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Monday. "Over three days -- between December 18 and 20 -- 75 units of automotive equipment including 50 Kamaz trucks and 25 armoured Ural vehicles have been brought by aircraft to Latakia airport," Shoigu told Russian President Vladimir Putin via video linkup. Quoted by the state RIA Novosti news agency, Shoigu said Russia had also sent other equipment but provided no details. Russia's ambassador to Damascus said last week Moscow had sent 10 planes to the Syrian port city of Latakia to help with the operation. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said Russian armoured trucks would help take Syria's chemical weapons out of the country. The US-Russia deal for Syria to surrender its chemical arsenal averted US strikes on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, which has been locked in a military conflict against the opposition since March 2011.