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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
London - Asharq Al-Awsat

Airstrike Hits Largest Russian Base in Syria

Russian soldiers display the remains of what they said was a drone belonging to rebel fighters shot down over the Russian air base in Hmeimim in the northwestern Syrian province of Latakia on August 16 AFP

Intense bombs shook at Sunday's dawn the city of Jableh in the countryside of Latakia, where sources confirmed the attacks were caused by drones that tried to drop unguided bombs on the largest military Russian airbase in Hmeimim.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there is still no information about the volume of losses until the moment.

This came following a similar attack that took place 48 hours earlier when violent explosions were heard in the Jableh area last Friday.

Sources told the Observatory that "Jihadi groups" targeted the Hmeimim military airfield with explosions, but the Russian Forces intercepted the missiles.

Sunday’s attack comes about 3 months after militants had targeted the same area with explosions.

In total, the Syrian Observatory documented 22 attacks launched by drones on the area, some of which were able to target the Hmeimim Airbase and cause material damage. It noted that at least 13 attacks targeted the Airbase during July 2018.

However, it said other attacks failed to reach their targets after being intercepted by the air defense systems that are responsible for the protection and security of the Russian Airbase.

Observers believe that any calm witnessed in the Hmeimim base is linked to Russia's attempts to make parties sit at the negotiating table and to secure a negotiable climate with better terms.

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