ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Russia deployed 40 military vehicles and 160 military police to a helicopter base it recently established in Qamishli, northern Syria, according to a Syrian military source.
The deployment was to a newly-established Russian base in the city, the military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Rudaw late on Friday.
Zvezda TV, affiliated with Russia’s Defense Ministry, said on Thursday that Russia had set up a helicopter base at Qamishli’s airport to increase their control over incidents happening on the ground, Reuters reported. At the time, the ministry had deployed just three helicopters, but expected to increase its presence.
“Right now it’s a small base to facilitate Russian operations in northeastern Syria, but potentially this could come in handy for Russian operations east of the Euphrates if and when the US withdraws completely from Syria,” said Vladimir Frolov, a senior former Russian diplomat, according to Reuters.
Qamishli is under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), though the Syrian regime has kept hold of the airport and a small neighbourhood.
The SDF-affiliated North Press Agency confirmed Friday’s deployment, adding that it includes a Pantsir surface-to-air missile system.
Russian military police are now present along the north Syria-Turkey border as part of an agreement with Ankara to end Turkey’s military incursion that was launched after US President Donald Trump announced he was pulling American troops out of their positions in northern Syria. Under the deal, Turkey and Russia conduct joint patrols of the border, Syrian regime troops are deployed to the north, and the SDF pull back some 32 kilometres south of the border.
Despite the ceasefire deal, daily clashes are happening.
After pulling US forces out of northern Syria, and thus leaving Kurdish allies exposed to Turkey’s attack, Trump sent troops back into eastern Syria in order to take control of oil fields in Deir ez-Zor province.
Near the key town of Kobane, Russian military police have moved into an airfield recently evacuated by the Americans.
"Our unit has begun guarding the airfield and the military base and patrolling the perimeter,” said a senior military police inspector, TASS news reported on Friday.
One of their first tasks was to ensure the Americans didn’t leave any surprises behind. "De-miners are currently checking the facility for explosive devices. We don’t know what traps and surprises the former owners of the base could have left behind," he added.
Brett McGurk, former US presidential envoy to the fight against Islamic State (ISIS), said in a tweet that “Russia now also owns the airstrip we built.”
“Kobani is a predominantly Kurdish area and site of the turning point against ISIS in 2015. This military facility was later critical to the defeat of ISIS’s so-called caliphate. Unfortunately for the Kurds, there’s no oil in the area,” he added.
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