Russia to enlarge Khmeimim airbase in Syria

By Hakan Ceyhan Aydogan

MOSCOW

Russia will enlarge an airbase in Syria that it uses for operations in the war-torn country, making it into a full-fledged military base.

According to Russian daily Izvestia, Senator Frants Klintsevich, deputy head of the defense committee in the upper house of parliament, said that Khmeimim airbase, located in Syria's northwestern Latakia province, will be enlarged after the base's legal status is determined and conditions are created to allow Russian soldiers to be stationed there permanently.

He added that nuclear weapons and heavy bombers will not be deployed at the base.

Klintsevich said that the number of aircraft deployed at the base may be increased under bilateral agreements but that no increase is necessary for now.

The newspaper added that Khmeimim will be enlarged to allow larger planes to land. A substructure will be set up for military personnel and security measures will be bolstered, it said.

Since last September, Russia has bolstered its military assets in Syria’s coastal areas, generally relying on a Caspian Sea-Iran-Iraq air corridor.

On Sept. 30, when international criticism of the Russian military buildup in Syria was mounting, Moscow began extensive air operations in the country, declaring that it was fighting terrorism.

Turkey and Western powers, for their part, accused Russia of striking at moderate Syrian opposition groups rather than terrorist targets.

Russia currently maintains Su-24s, Su-25s, and Su-30s at the airbase, which is controlled by Bashar al-Assad regime of Syria, along with Mi-24 attack helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests – which erupted as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings – with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than a quarter of a million people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-battered country, according to the UN.

The Syrian Center for Policy Research, however, put the death toll from the six-year conflict at more than 470,000 people.

*Tutku Umac contributed to this story from Ankara.