More US Bases Taken Up By Russia

Russian military helicopters arrived on a former US military base near the Syrian city of Metras. Russian soldiers include several helic...

Russian military helicopters arrived on a former US military base near the Syrian city of Metras.

Russian soldiers include several helicopters, landed in US-occupied territory in Syrian and then raising a Russian flag. The Russian military police said it had taken another former US base near Kobane "under its protection". "Our unit took the airfield and the base under its protection and is patrolling the perimetre of the area, surveilling the shooting positions," the military police said. "Engineers are checking for the presence of explosives or mines in the structure.

We don't know what traps or surprises the former owners could have left behind," said a military inspector cited by Interfax. The airfield was previously occupied by Syrian government forces. Russian army helicopters were then lined up on the airfield to prevent US forces from damaging the runway. On Thursday, Moscow said it had started building a helicopter base at the civilian airport in the city of Qamishli, previously used by US forces.