Mezzeh Air Base is a Syrian Air Force air base located in Mezzeh, Damascus, Syria, south-west of the old centre of Damascus. It has one runway of 8258 ft length, at elevation 2407 ft. 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." Reuters reported in mid-2013 that it was "used by Syria's elite Republican Guards, Special Forces and Air Force Intelligence, [and] also serves as a private airport for the Assad family." 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." The location of the Mezzeh Air Base has also been used by the Syrian regime as a jail to imprison opponents during the Syrian civil war. Various inquiries and investigations reported that acts of torture and possible war crimes were committed in the jails of Mezzeh Air Base.