On May 3^rd, Ambassador Heffern joined First Deputy Minister of Defense Davit Tonoyan for an orientation visit of demining operations currently being conducted south of Kapan near the village of Srashen. A grant from the Department of State made it possible for the HALO Trust demining organization to begin removing mines in this area on April 1^st. The Ministry of Defense is contributing to the mine clearance efforts of HALO by providing 21 military deminers and other associated support. During their visit, Mr. Tonoyan and Ambassador Heffern learned about the threat of mines in the region and the very tedious and detailed work that the deminers must undertake in order to make these hazardous areas safe for Armenian villagers. At the conclusion of their visit, the Ambassador and First Deputy Minister symbolized the excellent cooperation between Armenia and America by jointly detonating the first land mine that was discovered in the Srashen area.

By U.S. Mission Armenia | 3 May, 2014 | Topics: News