The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On November 24, 2023, the Syrian opposition-affiliated website Euphrates Post reported[1] that the Assad regime and Russia had sent military reinforcements to their positions in the Al-Hasakah governorate in northeastern Syria.
According to the report, a Russian Ilyushin plane loaded with weapons, ammunition, and logistic equipment landed in the Qamishli Airport, near the Turkish border, coming from the Russian Khmeimim Air Base on the Syrian coast, southeast of Latakia. The load was transferred to the Syrian regime's Tartab Regiment a.k.a. the 54th Regiment, which consists of regime, Hizbullah, and Russian forces, located near the Zunoud neighborhood in southern Qamishli. A Russian helicopter transferred some of the weapons and ammunition boxes to the city of Ma'dan, east of Raqqa, and the Al-Tabqah Airport, west of Raqqa, to be distributed to "Russian militias" in Al-Rusafah and the Syrian regime's 93rd Brigade in Ain Issa.
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The report added that an additional Russian Ilyushin plane loaded with weapons and ammunition belonging to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) arrived at the Qamishli Airport from the Deir Al-Zour Airport. The load was received by "Iranian militias," before being transferred to the Tartab Regiment and the Livestock Center. The Livestock Center, which constitutes a headquarters and weapons depot of Iran-backed militias, is located between the Tartab Regiment's headquarters and the Qamishli Airport.
The report noted that the Al-Hasakah governorate has recently seen an uptick in tension between forces of the U.S.-led Coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) and Iran- and Russia-backed militias, as Iran-backed groups have repeatedly attacked U.S. bases in eastern Syria.
On November 9, Syrian opposition-affiliated sources reported that an Iranian Ilyushin plane had landed in Syria's Khmeimim Air Base to deliver unidentified cargo, which was then transported to an unknown location via Russian vehicles.[2] An October 2 report in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Jarida claimed that Russia and Iran agreed that Hizbullah would transfer its old equipment to Arab tribes in eastern Syria and to Russia, in exchange for Russian assistance in transferring advanced Iranian weaponry to Hizbullah via Syria.[3]
[1] Euphratespost.net, November 24, 2023.
[2] See MEMRI JTTM report: Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Reportedly Transporting Weapons, Ammunition To Syria Via Russian-Controlled Airports In The Country, November 10, 2023.
