Deir ez-Zor Airport was established by the British during World War II as LG-416.[citation needed]
Before the Syrian civil war, airlines like Jazeera Airways and Syrian Air flew to destinations such as Damascus, Aleppo, Bahrain and Kuwait.[citation needed]
On 15 October 2012, heavy artillery and missiles strikes, originating in the airport, hit the city. On 24 November 2012, rebels were surrounding the airport.[citation needed] During the night of 6 December 2014, ISIL took control over the missile battalion to the northeast of the airport and stormed the airbase itself,[citation needed] but failed to seize it.[citation needed]
On 5 September 2017, Syrian special operations Tiger Forces and 17th Division troops started an offensive[3] to eventually capture Thardeh Mountains (under the control of ISIL fighters since CJTF-OIR forces had conducted the September 2016 Deir ez-Zor air raid upon then-besieged Syrian Army soldiers) and lift ISIL's siege of the airport.[4] On 9 September 2017, the Syrian SANA news agency reported that Syrian forces had broken the siege at the airport.[5][6] Russia's Defense Ministry said the lifting of the siege had followed ″a massive airstrike by Russian Aerospace Forces.″[5]
