Over 7Mln Trees Destroyed In Syrian Damascus Province During War - Agriculture Department

DAMASCUS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th November, 2018) More than seven million trees have been destroyed in the western Syrian province of Damascus as a result of the armed conflict, raging in the country for over seven years, Ali Saadat, the director of the Damascus Agriculture Department, said in an interview with the local Al Watan newspaper.

"Losses in the Damascus province amount to 7,200,000 trees," Saadat said.

He went on to say that farmers from the Damascus' Eastern Ghouta suburb had been allowed to engage in agriculture activities on 22,000 hectares out of its total 32,000 hectares, as mine clearance operations were currently being carried out on 10,000 hectares.

Saadat also said that some of the Eastern Ghouta's farmers had been given around 6,000 seedlings, while 125 farmers had been recently provided with sets consisting of winter crops seedlings and irrigation systems, and 800 such sets had been distributed earlier.

Syria has been engulfed in an armed conflict since 2011, with the government forces fighting against numerous armed opposition groups and terrorist organizations. As the Syrian government has regained control over most of the country's territories that were seized by terrorists, it is now focused on creating favorable conditions for repatriating refugees and recovering the infrastructure.