Russia, Syrian regime restore Syria air base for joint use
A military air base in northern Syria has been restored to be jointly used by Russian and Syrian regime forces.
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Russia has backed the Syrian regime in the conflict since 2015 [Getty/archive]
Russia and the Syrian regime have restored the al-Jarrah military air base in Syria's north to be jointly used, the Russian Defence Ministry said late on Monday.
"Russian and Syrian military personnel restored the destroyed al-Jarrah airfield," the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.
"The joint basing of aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces and the Syrian Air Force at the al-Jarrah airfield makes it possible to cover the state border."
The small base east of Aleppo was recaptured from Islamic State group fighters in 2017.
Russia has been a dominant military force in Syria since launching air strikes and ground operations there in 2015. It further asserted its presence after the United States pulled out its forces in 2019.
Over 500,000 people have been killed in the 12-year-old conflict and millions more displaced, mostly as a result of Syrian regime bombardment of civilian areas. Many cities and villages have been left in ruins and the country is living its worst ever economic crisis.
(Reuters & The New Arab)
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