Russia sends tanks and artillery to Syria, US official claims

Russia has sent artillery and seven tanks to a Syrian air base as part of Moscow's continued military build-up in the war-ravaged nation, a US official said on Monday.

The increase of Russian hardware in Syria has caused concerns in the West about the implications of Moscow militarily helping its old ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the US official told AFP the seven T-90 tanks arrived in recent days but had not been sent outside the airbase near Latakia, on Syria's Mediterranean coast.

And the artillery, which arrived last week, appears to have been sent there to protect the facility. There was no indication Russia had sent fighter jets or helicopter gunships to Syria.

"It appears, and all the indications are pointing, that [the artillery is] for airfield defence," the official said. 

Russian help for Assad could seriously complicate the US-led coalition's air strikes against the Islamic State group (IS) in Syria and defence officials are worried about the possibility of accidents if coalition and Russian planes operate in the same airspace.

Two Russian transport planes, purportedly carrying humanitarian aid, landed in Syria on Saturday, Russian state media said, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week that Moscow was sending military equipment along with aid "in accordance with current contracts".

Assad's ally

At a news briefing, Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said Russia apparently was establishing a forward air operations base in Latakia.

"It's been a continued steady flow [of equipment] for the last week and a half or so," he said.

AFP reported last week that dozens of Russian naval infantry had arrived in Syria, along with two tank-landing ships and about a dozen Russian armoured personnel carriers.

American officials also say Russia has installed modular housing units - enough for "hundreds" of people.

Russia is a staunch ally of the government in Damascus and maintains a naval facility in Tartus province.

"We would welcome Russian contributions to the overall global effort against [the Islamic State group] but things that continue to support the Assad regime, particularly military things, are unhelpful and risk adding greater instability to an already unstable situation," Davis said.