In the photo: defenders of the airbase, soldiers and officers of the second regiment of special forces of Syria.
For three years now, Syrian special forces have been defending the base, fighting in complete surroundings.
The first attempt to take the base was made by the Syrian Free Army 30 on April 2013. They managed to break through the outer perimeter of the base, but the attack was repelled. This was the first assault on the Air Force base during the Syrian war.
The five-kilometer perimeter of the base was strengthened, but to protect it seemed an almost impossible task - without the dominant structures and heights.
All the villages in the area were demolished by the rebels.
13 fortified hangars were turned into strong points of defense. They were installed heavy machine guns and ATGM.
The presence of these fortified shelters played a major role in the survival of the base.
Several played a role tanks and armored personnel carriers, which played the role of quick reaction forces, and transferred to critical points during attacks.
During the battles, the base’s defenders managed to repel several tanks from Jabhat al-Nusra and the tribes that had fled from the Deir ez-Zur from the Islamic State and took part in the siege.
Fully aware of the inevitable downfall of the base and showing unusual tactical prudence for it, the Air Force commanders withdrew several MiG-21 and MiG-23 from the base, which were in working condition at the Hama Air Force base.
The impressive trophies shown by the rebels are the remains of 19 aircraft, which in reality stopped flying 10-15 years ago.
Abu ad-Dukhur was completely cut off from the main forces of the Syrian army, the supply was carried out by air on the An-26 and Mi-8. During the siege of the base several helicopters were shot down, one An-26 and 2 MiG-21.
According to the militants themselves, first flew to the base aviation and attacked the adjacent potentially dangerous and identified clusters of militants near the base, and then helicopters came up and went to land.
In recent weeks, the supply base has to carry out the dumping of supplies on parachutes. The base is shot through by snipers and 23-mm guns. Collecting landed loads is extremely difficult. It is hardest for the wounded: the militants smashed buildings from heavy weapons, fires raged, and you cannot evacuate the victims.
The storming of Abu ad-Dukhur coincided with a giant dust storm that hit the Middle East.
But a handful of soldiers stubbornly held contrary to all calculations. The defenders retreated inside the perimeter, but did not run and did not lay down weapon. Being in a desperate situation, they called the fire of their artillery directly on themselves!
At that moment, the fate of the base and the entire 3-year defense was decided. On the account was every person capable of holding a weapon.
Because of the sandstorm, the Syrian air force could not make sorties in support of the defenders of the base.
Thanks to direct military assistance from the United States, terrorists received anti-tank missile systems Konkurs capable of hitting targets with guided missiles from a distance of 4 kilometers.
Almost from impunity, the militants confidently hit the last tanks of the defenders and destroyed the defenses in the buildings. The shelling went day and night.
Large fires broke out at the base, depots with fuel and ammunition exploded. The situation became desperate, but the defenders still held.
In any case, the extreme depletion of defenders (after all, the continuous attacks of the militants lasted three days), the continuous shelling and quantitative superiority of the attackers predetermined the fate of the base, the balance of forces was 1 to 80.
Most of the soldiers who defended the base died.
Survivors and wounded, who could move, let the militants to 30 meters, threw grenades and went on a breakthrough through the chains of the attackers.
The base commander, General Insan az-Zuhuri, led the breakthrough of the survivors and died in a fierce melee.
A small group (numbering up to 40 people) managed to break into the territory controlled by the Syrian army.
PS I remember how at the end of the 80s of the last century we took "final examinations" from Syrian special forces officers at the proving ground in the Crimea.
On the last day we set the tables, because Tomorrow the Syrians sailed away from Sevastopol home. And now, after the third, on a smoke break, the Syrian, whose name was Farid, said to me: "You Russians are an amazing people, you don't care much, but you are probably the only people in the world who don’t die!"
Only in the Russian language there is such a thing as "stand to death".
As the saying goes, with whom you lead, from this and pick up.
So the Syrians who studied with us stood to death!
Defenders of the airbase. Pictures taken at the base in 2013