Russian military experts arrive at Qamishlo airport of Syrian Kurdistan

Russian military experts arrive at Qamishlo airport of Syrian Kurdistan

Posted on January 21, 2016 by Editorial stuff in Kurdistan

QAMISHLO, Syrian Kurdistan,— Russia has sent
soldiers and engineers to the international airport in the main Kurdish
city of Qamishlo (Qamishli) in Syrian Kurdistan, the Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights (SOHR) has reported.

In a statement quoting local activists, SOHR said Russian soldiers
and engineers were dispatched to the international airport in Qamishlo
in Syrian Kurdistan in order to expand the facility and enable the
landing of Russian fighter jets and cargo planes. The airport would
serve to enhance Russia’s defenses, the SOHR claimed.Meanwhile,
the Local Coordination Committee (LCC) reported that some
100 Russian soldiers of different ranks arrived at the airport in
Qamishlo on Jan. 18 with a Syrian military plane.

According to the LCC’s statement, Russian soldiers were brought
to Regiment 154 base in the south of Qamishlo, which is equipped with
artillery batteries, radars and anti-aircraft weapons, and serves to
defend the airport.

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported the Russian soldiers would
be deployed to areas of Qamishlo that are under the control of the
Syrian regime, and not the Kurdish Democratic Union Party PYD and its
military wing of People’s Protection Units YPG.
Turkish intelligence sources have confirmed to daily Hurriyet that
Russian forces arrived at Qamishlo, stating Turkey’s radars had noticed
the plane carrying the soldiers.

The deployment is not a first, sources said, adding that Russian
forces were previously spotted in parts of Qamishlo that are controlled
by the regime. The number of soldiers sent to the area remains unclear,
the sources explained. The reports were denied by Kurdish sources speaking to daily
Hurriyet, however, which claimed all communications between Russia and
the Kurdish PYD were being conducted in Moscow.

Russia President Vladimir Putin said in in September 2015 no one but Assad’s forces and Kurds are fighting Islamic State. The powerful Kurdish YPG force which the US considers an ally in the
fight with IS, is considered the most effective group fighting IS in Syria.