YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 19, ARMENPRESS: The overall situation in Aleppo is more or  less quiet after February 18 heated battles, though the sounds of shelling could be heard in Armenian districts. Berio National Primacy press secretary Jirayr Reisyan told Armenpress, heated battles were orchestrated in the nearby territories of Armenian Church. Our compatriot assures in accordance to the received information the church was not damaged as a result of launched clashes, only nearby buildings have suffered losses.

Dwelling on the incident occurred with Armenian Gevorg Karagulyan kidnapped from his job place in the suburbs of Aleppo on February 14, Resyan told  the kidnappers have demanded  quite large amount of money  for his  release. Currently the relatives are trying to reduce the required ransom through negotiations. There is no news refer to kidnapped Armenian clergyman as well.

According to UN data over 70 thousand people were killed during 23 months lasting clashes in Syria, including four dozen Armenians.