عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Syrian Special Forces Conduct Parachute Drills with Russian Aircraft

24 September 2023, Syria, Idlib: Displaced Syrians stand near a crater left by a missile as a result of an overnight missile attack targeted a camp for displaced people on the outskirts of Idlib city. Photo: Anas Alkharboutli/dpa
24 September 2023, Syria, Idlib: Displaced Syrians stand near a crater left by a missile as a result of an overnight missile attack targeted a camp for displaced people on the outskirts of Idlib city. Photo: Anas Alkharboutli/dpa
TT
TT

Syrian Special Forces Conduct Parachute Drills with Russian Aircraft

24 September 2023, Syria, Idlib: Displaced Syrians stand near a crater left by a missile as a result of an overnight missile attack targeted a camp for displaced people on the outskirts of Idlib city. Photo: Anas Alkharboutli/dpa
24 September 2023, Syria, Idlib: Displaced Syrians stand near a crater left by a missile as a result of an overnight missile attack targeted a camp for displaced people on the outskirts of Idlib city. Photo: Anas Alkharboutli/dpa

Syrian special forces troops performed more than 1,500 parachute jumps over the Mediterranean Sea and the Aleppo and Latakia provinces as part of training drills conducted using Russian military aircraft, Russia's defense ministry said on Thursday.

Video footage published by the ministry showed groups of Syrian troops leaping out of Russian planes and helicopters, including what the ministry said was the Syrian Arab Army's first mass landing from an IL-76 aircraft conducted at night.

"Servicemen of the Russian group of troops in Syria ensured the execution of a comprehensive exercise of Syrian special forces units," the defense ministry said.

Russia is one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main allies. Moscow's intervention alongside Iran helped turn the tide in favor of Assad in the country's over decade-old conflict.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Large-scale Refugee Returns Could Overwhelm Syria, UN Migration Agency Chief Warns

Residents stand in line to buy bread from a bakery in Aleppo, Syria. (File/AP)
Residents stand in line to buy bread from a bakery in Aleppo, Syria. (File/AP)
TT
TT

Large-scale Refugee Returns Could Overwhelm Syria, UN Migration Agency Chief Warns

Residents stand in line to buy bread from a bakery in Aleppo, Syria. (File/AP)
Residents stand in line to buy bread from a bakery in Aleppo, Syria. (File/AP)

Large-scale returns of refugees to Syria could overwhelm the country and even stoke conflict at a fragile moment following the toppling of President Bashar al-Assad earlier this month, the head of the UN migration agency told reporters on Friday.
"We believe that millions of people returning would create conflict within an already fragile society," said Amy Pope, director-general of the International Organization for Migration, told a Geneva press briefing after a trip to the country. "We are not promoting large scale returns. The communities, frankly, are just not ready to absorb the people who are displaced."