Kazakhstan continues evacuation of its citizens from Syria

The Foreign Ministry and other government agencies of Kazakhstan will continue evacuation of citizens of Kazakhstan from Syria, Kazakh media reported citing Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Aibek Smadiyarov as saying.

“The main attention in the operation was paid to children from 1 to 5 years of age. Most of them were born on the territory of Syria. We can say this is not the last of the operation. This is just the beginning. The operation will be continued,” the spokesperson said.

47 citizens of Kazakhstan were earlier evacuated from Syria, 30 children aged 1-5 years and 11 women among them.

According to the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan, since start of the war in the Middle East, around 800 citizens of Kazakhstan went to Syria and Iraq, most of them are children. By July 2018, there were 120 Kazakhstan men, more than 250 women and 500 minor children in Syria and Iraq.