Russia pulling back military from front lines in Syria

TARTOUS: Russia is pulling back its military from the front lines in northern Syria and from posts in the Alawite Mountains but is not leaving its two main bases in the country after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, four Syrian officials said.

The ousting of Assad, who along with his late father, former President Hafez al-Assad, had forged a close alliance with Moscow, has thrown the future of Russia’s bases — the Hmeimim airbase in Latakia and the Tartous naval facility — into question.