Al-Assad Visits Russian-run Air Base in Latakia
Local Editor
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad toured a Russian airbase
in western Syria on Tuesday in his first official visit to Moscow's
main base of operations.
Increasingly confident after the Syrian army has scored a series of victories against terrorists, al-Assad has made several visits outside Damascus during this week's Eid al-Fitr holidays, the longest he has spent away from the capital since the start of Syrian crisis in 2011.
At the Hmeimim base south of the coastal city of Latakia, the head of the Syrian state met Russian military officials and inspected equipment, according to photographs posted on the presidency's Twitter account.
Moscow and Damascus signed an agreement in 2015 allowing Russia to establish the airbase as a Launchpad for operations in support of the Syrian army.
During his visit, the Syrian leader inspected a single-seat, twin-engine and super-maneuverable Sukhoi SU-35 fighter jet as well as armored vehicles at Hmeimim base southeast of the provincial capital city of Latakia on Tuesday, and met with a number of Russian military commanders there, Syria's official news agency SANA reported.
Chief of Russia's General Staff Valery Gerasimov accompanied al-Assad during the visit.
"The Syrian people will not forget the support of their Russian brothers," he wrote in the base visitors' book.
Russian Defense Ministry issued a statement noting that during the visit, al-Assad and Gerasimov had held talks at the base on "coordination between Syrian government forces and Russia's air force".
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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