IMAGE: Marina Lystseva/TASS
Forces from the Syrian interim government took over two buildings overlooking Russia’s Khmeimim Air Base on the country’s coast, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on April 29.
The London-based monitoring group said that government forces expelled refugees who were living in the buildings, locally known as the Fuel and Meteorology buildings, and deployed snipers there.
Some 10,000 refugees have been taking shelter in Khmeimim and its outskirts since early last March, when a government crackdown claimed the lives of more than 1,600 people, mostly members of the Alawite religious minority which make up the majority of the coast’s population.
According to SOHR, the refugees held a protest near the main entrance of the air base demanding the withdrawal of government focus.
Russian forces have been providing aid to the refugees, while the government has been pressuring them to leave Khmeimim without providing any guarantees. The deployment close to the air base is likely meant to intimidate the refugees, who have been demanding international protection.
Khmeimim is one of two facilities the Russian military maintains in areas controlled by Syria’s interim government, with the other being Tartus naval base further down along the coast.
Since the deadly crackdown, both bases have been attacked with drones more than once with no group claiming responsibility.
Moscow and Damascus maintain high levels of communications, but an agreement on the future of Russian bases on the coast is yet to be reached.
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