Assad orders Russian troop withdrawal from Syria

Bashar Assad, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Shoigu

In this Monday, Nov. 20, 2017, photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and Syrian President Bashar Assad, left, and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu watch a document during their meeting in the Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia. Putin has met with Assad ahead of a summit between Russia, Turkey and Iran and a new round of Syria peace talks in Geneva, Russian and Syrian state media reported Tuesday. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

The Tass news agency says that Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived at a Russian military air base in Syria.

Tass said that Putin’s plane landed at the Hemeimeem air base in Syria’s coastal province of Latakia, the heartland of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s Alawite minority. The visit marks Putin’s first trip to Syria and comes as Assad’s forces have retaken control over most of Syria under the Russian air cover.

The air base has served as the main foothold for the air campaign Russia has waged since September 2015 in support of Assad. (AlArabiya)

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