Quires

Before the war, the airfield was the main one for training the Syrian Air Force, it was based on 3 squadrons , which were armed with the L-39 ZA , MBB 223 Flamingo, as well as 3 and 4 pilot schools.

Civil War (since 2011)

During the civil war, the airfield was surrounded by militants, and on April 27, 2013 it was partially captured. The base was defended by its staff, as well as cadets of the military school of air defense who came for an internship. At the beginning of the blockade, defense was held by 600 people; at the end of the siege, approximately 350 people remained alive. In May 2015, General Al-Muhanna, who led the defense of the base, was killed. ^[1]

In August 2015, militants launched 2 assaults ^[2] ; After the assault on August 10, a rally of military relatives defending the air base took place in Tartus - the main demand of the protesters was the release of the base ^[3] . After that, the SAR troops made an unsuccessful attempt to unlock the base.

The offensive on this sector of the front by the Syrian government troops (Syrian Arab Army, SAA ) began in mid-September. Its main purpose was to remove the siege from the base (however, there was another strategic goal: this could allow blocking the Aleppo- Rakka highway, thereby cutting the supply lines of the Islamic State in two). September 30, 2015 began the military operation of Russia in Syria . October 16, the SAA approached the base at 7 km. Five days later - already 4 km.

The settlements of Sheikh Ahmad (2 km from the air base) were occupied and, after that, on November 10–11, 2015, government troops under the command of Suhel Al-Hasan unblocked the airfield (a breakthrough was made by the Aviation Institute) ^[4] .

The breakthrough of the blockade was, at that time, one of the notable successes of the Syrian government forces from the moment they went on the counterattack on all fronts .

• Not far from the air base, Turkish pilots were captured by SAR troops. ^[five]