MOSCOW (DPA) - Russia announced on Thursday (Nov 14) that it has set up an airbase at the northern Syrian city of Qamishli following a US troop withdrawal from the war-torn region last month.

The airbase maintains combat helicopters for patrols of Syrian territory between the borders with Turkey to the north and Iraq to the east, Russian state news agency TASS reported.

Russia, an ally of Syria since the Soviet era, has been the main military backer of the Middle Eastern country's disputed leadership in a years-long civil war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan last month to share control of part of northern Syria after Turkish forces invaded following the US withdrawal.