The official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) announced the mission on Saturday, adding it is being carried out in coordination with Qatar\u2019s International Search and Rescue Group of the Internal Security Force. Qatar <\/a>will be assisting with heavy machinery and equipment for the field operations.<\/p>\n The team consists of 15 specialists, who are all equipped with personal rescue gear and left Damascus International Airport to help with the humanitarian response efforts in areas affected by the earthquake.<\/p>\n The team’s operation is being coordinated by Syria\u2019s Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management and the Foreign Ministry.<\/p>\n Syria’s\u00a0SANA news agency described the mission as a \u201chistoric milestone\u201d, marking the first time Syria has sent an international team to respond to a disaster outside the country.<\/p>\n It also marks the first international mission carried out since the fall of Assad in 2024<\/a>\u00a0by the country\u2019s newly-established national search-and-rescue team.<\/p>\n The Venezuelan government has called for assistance from international teams, including specialists and search dogs, to help extract survivors from beneath collapsed buildings.<\/p>\n Other countries, including Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Spain, Germany, Jordan, the UK, Switzerland and Turkey, among others, have sent teams to help.<\/p>\n This comes after two powerful 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes hit the country on Wednesday, just seconds apart, causing buildings to collapse and power shortages.<\/p>\n Syria has been widely praised for its efforts in assisting Venezuela, with many also commending the Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets,<\/a> for their history of risking their lives to search for civilians, particularly amid the Syrian civil war and Assad\u2019s crackdown on the uprising in the country.<\/p>\n \u201cThink about it for a moment: Syria. The country that between 2011 and 2024 endured one of the most brutal conflicts of the century. More than 500,000 dead. Half of its population displaced. Entire cities turned into rubble. An earthquake in 2023 that killed more than 50,000 people on its own territory,\u201d one social media user commented<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThat country is today debuting its international humanitarian capacity in Venezuela. Beyond the dismay that thinking about the opportunity lost to Chavista corruption may leave us with, this gives me hope that in the future we will have a viable country capable of helping others, just as they are helping us in these dark hours,\u201d they continued.<\/p>\n Others called it a \u201chistoric move\u201d filled with symbolism.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a historic move, as the mission to #Venezuela<\/a> is the Syrian Civil Defense’s first abroad operation since the fall of Assad. Venezuela is also a highly symbolic destination. Maduro, ousted in January, was one of Assad’s staunchest allies – the same Assad who deliberately targeted the White Helmets – while the country is also home to the largest Syrian community across the Atlantic,\u201d another post<\/a> read.<\/p>\n \u201cThanks Syria! A lot of your people went here to Venezuela fleeing the Assad government and make part of an ubiquitous community,\u201d a social media user\u00a0commented<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n Venezuela\u2019s foreign minister expressed his thanks to Syria for its efforts.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cVenezuela thanks the Syrian Arab Republic for its condolences and kind wishes to our country as we confront this tragic situation,\u201d Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said in a statement.<\/p>\n
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