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Syria's Assad Visits Russian Air Base


Syria's President Bashar al-Assad visits a Russian air base at Hmeymim, in western Syria in this handout picture posted on SANA, June 27, 2017.
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad visits a Russian air base at Hmeymim, in western Syria in this handout picture posted on SANA, June 27, 2017.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited a Russian air base at Hmeymim in western Syria on Tuesday, his first visit to the base from which Russian jets have supported his war effort.

Photos circulated showed the Syrian leader in the cockpit of a Russian Sukhoi SU-35 warplane, and inspecting an armored vehicle at the base near Latakia. He was accompanied by Russian chief of staff General Valery Gerasimov, state news agency SANA reported.

The base has been at the heart of Moscow's military effort in support of Assad since 2015, when the Russian air force began bombing insurgents who were threatening his grip on power. Assad has also been backed in the war by Iran.

Assad has been touring areas north of Damascus in recent days, a rare trip out of his seat of power in the capital. On Sunday he performed Eid prayers in the city of Hama, the first time he has visited the city since the start of the conflict.

State media also reported on Tuesday that Assad had visited wounded soldiers in the Hama countryside, accompanied by his wife Asma and children in footage screened by state media.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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