Tiyas Air Base  | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Air base | ||||||||||
| Owner |  Syrian Armed Forces | ||||||||||
| Operator |  Syrian Air Force | ||||||||||
| Location | Tiyas, Homs Governorate | ||||||||||
| In use | Present | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 34°31′21″N37°37′47″E / 34.52250°N 37.62972°E | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  Tiyas Air Base Location in Syria | |||||||||||
 | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
The Tiyas Air Base, also known as the T-4 Air base, is a former Syrian Air Force base located in the Homs Governorate, north of Tiyas, and west of the ancient city of Palmyra, Syria.
Tiyas is the largest airbase in Syria. [2]
During the 1970s and 1980s, the Soviet Union was given access to the Tiyas Air Base for the periodic deployment of naval aircraft.
The airbase was used by the Syrian Arab Air Force and Iran's Quds Force for military operations against ISIL and opposition forces during the Syrian Civil War. [3]
In December 2016, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) attacked the airbase a day after overrunning pro-government forces in nearby Palmyra. ISIL claimed to have destroyed four Syrian military aircraft during their attack on the airbase.[ citation needed ]
The Israeli Air Force launched an attack on the airbase on 10 February 2018, destroying the main observation tower, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. [4]
The base was struck again on 9 April 2018 by multiple missiles, it was not immediately clear who was behind the attack however U.S officials denied launching any air attack on Syria. [5]
It was reported that the April 2018 attack on the base destroyed a hangar used to shelter drones and an Iranian supplied anti-aircraft Tor missile system, before it could be set up and become fully operational. [6] [7] [8]
T-4 air base has been used by Iran-backed Shia militias to launch drone strikes against U.S. bases in northern Syria during summer 2021. [9]
Israeli warplanes attacked the airbase with missiles again on 8 October 2021 around 9:30 pm. Six Syrian soldiers were injured according to Syrian media. Israel claims that the airbase is still used by Iranian forces. [10]
The airbase was captured by members of the Syrian Free Army in early December 2024. [11]
The Israeli Air Force operates as the aerial and space warfare branch of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. As of April 2022, Aluf Tomer Bar has been serving as the Air Force commander.
The Syrian Arab Air Defence Force, was an independent command within the Syrian Armed Forces. It was responsible for protecting the Syrian airspace against any hostile air attacks. The SyADF was one of the most powerful and combat-tested Air Defence forces in the region.
The History of the Israel Air Force begins in May 1948, shortly after the formation of the State of Israel. Following Israel's declaration of independence on May 14, its pre-state national institutions transformed into the agencies of a state, and on May 26, 1948, the Israeli Air Force was formed. Beginning with a small collection of light aircraft, the force soon transformed into a comprehensive fighting force. It has since participated in several wars and numerous engagements, becoming what has been described as "The mightiest air force in the Middle East".
The Shayrat and Tiyas airbase ambush was an armed attack on Shayrat Airbase and the Tiyas Military Airbase in the Homs Governorate by the Free Syrian Army on 25 November 2011, during the Syrian civil war. As the Syrian government had banned foreign journalists from entering the country, the exact location of the attack is unknown, although it was believed to have been at a military airbase in Homs Governorate between Homs and Palmyra, possibly at the military airfield at 34°31′30″N37°37′22″E. Ten Syrian Air Force personnel were killed.
The Palmyra offensive of May 2015 was a military operation launched during the Syrian Civil War by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on May 13–26, 2015, in an attempt to capture the government-held Tadmur District of the Homs Governorate, including the administrative centre of Tadmur, known in English as Palmyra. The ruins and ancient monuments of Palmyra, which lie on the south-western fringe of the modern city, have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980. The ruins were part of a desert oasis that was one of the most significant cultural centers of the ancient world, linking the civilizations of Persia, India, China with the Roman Empire through trade. The offensive was one of the largest offensives launched by ISIL, the largest one conducted by ISIL in Syria since the 2014 Eastern Syria offensive, with the result of the offensive increasing ISIL's control of Syria to at least 50%.
The Palmyra offensive of July–August 2015 was a military operation launched during the Syrian Civil War by the Syrian Arab Army in July 2015, in an attempt to recapture the ISIL-held city of Tadmur, known in English as Palmyra.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from January to July 2015. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian Civil War.
On 30 September 2015, Russia launched a military intervention in Syria after a request by the government of Bashar al-Assad for military support in its fight against the Syrian opposition and Islamic State (IS) in the Syrian civil war. The intervention was kick-started by extensive air strikes across Syria, focused on attacking opposition strongholds of the Free Syrian Army along with the rebel coalition of the Revolutionary Command Council and Sunni militant groups under the Army of Conquest coalition. In line with Syrian government propaganda which denounces all armed resistance to its rule as "terrorism"; Syrian military chief Ali Abdullah Ayoub depicted Russian airstrikes as facilitating their campaign against terrorism. Russian special operations forces, military advisors and private military contractors like the Wagner Group were also sent to Syria to support the Assad regime, which was on the verge of collapse. Prior to the intervention, Russian involvement had been heavily invested in providing Assad with diplomatic cover and propping up the Syrian Armed Forces with billions of dollars of arms and equipment. In December 2017, the Russian government announced that its troops would be deployed to Syria permanently.
Khmeimim Air Base, also Hmeimim Air Base, is a Syrian airbase currently operated by Russia, located south-east of the city of Latakia in Hmeimim, Latakia Governorate, Syria and approximately 2 miles north-east of the coastal town of Jableh. The airbase shares some airfield facilities with Latakia Airport. The legal status of the base is regulated by a treaty Russia and Syria signed in August 2015. At the end of 2017, Russia said it had decided to turn the Khmeimim base into a component of its permanent military contingent stationed in Syria.
The Battle of the Shaer gas field took place between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Syrian government for the control over the Sha'er gas field during the Syrian Civil War. It is the third attack that was launched by ISIL on the gas field.
The Palmyra offensive in December 2016 was a military operation launched by the military of ISIL which led to the re-capture of the ancient city of Palmyra, and an unsuccessful ISIL attack on the Tiyas T-4 Airbase to the west of the city. ISIL previously controlled the city from May 2015 until March 2016.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from January to April 2017. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian Civil War.
The Palmyra offensive in 2017 was launched by the Syrian Arab Army against the armed forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the Eastern Homs Governorate in January 2017, with the goal of recapturing Palmyra and its surrounding countryside. ISIL forces had retaken the city of Palmyra in a sudden offensive from 8 to 11 December, after previously being expelled from it by Syrian government and Russian forces in March 2016. On 2 March 2017, the Syrian Army alongside Russian reinforcement, succeeded again in recapturing the beleaguered city of Palmyra.
On the morning of 7 April 2017, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the Mediterranean Sea into Syria, aimed at Shayrat Airbase controlled by the Syrian government. The strike was executed on the authorization of U.S. President Donald Trump, as a direct response to the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack that occurred on 4 April.
On 10 February 2018, an Israeli F-16I was shot down by the Syrian air defenses after conducting an air raid on Iran-backed positions inside Syrian territory. The aircraft was part of a larger Israeli aerial dispatch which Israel said was sent in response to detection of an Iranian drone spying on Israel. Two hours after the downing of the jet, Israel began attacking additional targets inside Syria, including air defense sites and Iranian targets near Damascus. Israel stated it destroyed the Syrian military's main command and control bunker. Iran dismissed the Israeli allegation of Iranian drone incursion into Israeli territory as "ridiculous".
On 14 April 2018, beginning at 04:00 Syrian time (UTC+3), the United States, France, and the United Kingdom carried out a series of military strikes involving aircraft and ship-based missiles against multiple government sites in Syria during the Syrian Civil War. The strikes were a reprisal for the Douma chemical attack against civilians on 7 April, widely attributed to the Syrian government. The Syrian government called the airstrikes a violation of international law.
The Iran–Israel conflict during the Syrian civil war refers to the Iranian–Israeli standoff in and around Syria during the Syrian conflict. With increasing Iranian involvement in Syria from 2011 onwards, the conflict shifted from a proxy war into a direct confrontation by early 2018.
The U.S. intervention in the Syrian civil war is the United States-led support of Syrian opposition and Rojava during the course of the Syrian civil war and active military involvement led by the United States and its allies — the militaries of the United Kingdom, France, Jordan, Turkey, Canada, Australia and more — against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and al-Nusra Front since 2014. Since early 2017, the U.S. and other Coalition partners have also targeted the Syrian government and its allies via airstrikes and aircraft shoot-downs.