Mezzeh Air Base  | |||||||||||
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 Location of Mezzeh Air Base in Damascus, in brown at the bottom left | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||
| Owner | Syrian Armed Forces | ||||||||||
| Operator | Syrian Air Force | ||||||||||
| Location | Mezzeh, Damascus | ||||||||||
| In use | Unknown–present | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 2,407 ft / 734 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 33°28′40″N 36°13′24″E / 33.47778°N 36.22333°E | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  Mezzeh Air Base Location in Syria | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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Mezzeh Air Base (also spelled Mazzeh) is a Syrian Air Force air base located in Mezzeh, Damascus, Syria, south-west of the old centre of Damascus. It has one runway of 8258 ft length, at elevation 2407 ft.[1] In mid-2013 the airbase was described by the BBC as "an important strategic installation [which] plays a significant role in distributing the government's military supplies."[2] Reuters reported in mid-2013 that it was "used by Syria's elite Republican Guards, Special Forces and Air Force Intelligence, [and] also serves as a private airport for the Assad family."[3] It also said that during the Syrian civil war the base was "used to fire rockets and artillery at rebellious Sunni Muslim neighbourhoods on the edge of the capital."[3] The location of the Mezzeh Air Base has also been used by the Syrian regime as a jail to imprison opponents during the Syrian civil war. Various inquiries and investigations reported that acts of torture and possible war crimes were committed in the jails of Mezzeh Air Base.[4]
- ^ globalsecurity.org Syrian Airfields
- ^ BBC, 17 June 2013, Syria blast at Mezzeh military airport in Damascus
- ^ a b Reuters, 16 June 2013, Explosion hits military airport in Damascus: activists
- ^ "France issues arrest warrants for three Syrian security officials over prison torture". France 24. France 24. 5 November 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2021.