[1] In mid-2013 the airbase was described by the BBC as "an important strategic installation [which] plays a significant role in distributing the government's military supplies.

"[3] It also said that during the Syrian civil war the base was "used to fire rockets and artillery at rebellious Sunni Muslim neighbourhoods on the edge of the capital.

Various inquiries and investigations reported that acts of torture and possible war crimes were committed in the jails of Mezzeh Air Base.

[4] On December 8, 2024, shortly after Damascus fell, it was targeted by Israel airstrikes, most likely to prevent the appropriation of strategic weapons by Syrian rebels, destroying it.

"By the end of 1957 the SAF had two operational MiG-17 squadrons defending the capital from their base at al-Mezze near Damascus.