LATAKIA /Syria/, November 1. /TASS/. Syrian sappers found Italian mines while clearing the village of Um Adasa and the fields of an adjoining camel farm in the Aleppo region, Yazam Mohammed, sapper section chief, told reporters on Wednesday.

The terrorists had been in control of that area for over three years. Defending the nearby hill, they were planting mines "like crops." He said none of the explosive devices had been carefully camouflaged.

"The mines are of Italian make. They have S-4 as an explosive substance and it is far more powerful than TNT," he said. "If this mine explodes, it blows off a person’s leg up to the knee."

About 30 mines were discovered in the clearance operation. Besides, the mine engineers found unexploded IEDs made by militants from gas cylinders. Many of the shells were removed from the walls of houses. The servicemen defused antipersonnel landmines with the help of pressure charges.

The sappers, who were demining the village and neighboring area, had undergone training by Russian officers at a special training center.