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New
satellite imagery appears to reveal extensive damage to a strategically
significant airbase in central Syria used by Russian forces after a
reported attack by so-called Islamic State (IS).
Four helicopters
and 20 lorries were destroyed in a series of fires inside the T4 base
last week, the images from intelligence company Stratfor suggest.
The cause of the fires is unconfirmed.
The Russian military has denied reports that it had lost helicopters at the base as a result of an IS attack.
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- What is Islamic State?
A news agency linked to IS, Amaq, was the first to report the
incident, without saying what had caused the fires, says BBC Arabic
Syria correspondent Rami Ruhayem.
"Burning of four Russian attack helicopters and 20 trucks
loaded with missiles inside T4 airport in eastern Homs [province] as a
result of a nearby fire," it said in an urgent report, leading to
speculation that it could have been accidental.
On the same day, IS released an image it said showed one of its fighters firing Grad rockets at T4, also known as Tiyas.
'Not an accident'
"What
the imagery tells us is that first of all this was not an accidental
explosion, as some of the rumours kept saying," Stratfor military
analyst Sim Tack said.
"It
shows very clearly that there are several different sources of
explosions across the airport, and it shows that the Russians took a
quite a bad hit.
Mr Tack described Amaq's account as "very accurate", and suggested the helicopters and depot were destroyed by IS attacks.
He said it was unclear why IS had not officially said it had caused the destruction.
"In the past IS has claimed similar attacks, they have even videotaped the attacks themselves.
"In
this case, we haven't seen any of those materials come out yet. One
possibility is that by making the statement they were intending to claim
it while not necessarily phrasing it that way."
Russian ministry
of defence spokesman Igor Konashenkov insisted that "all Russian combat
helicopters in Syrian Arab Republic continue their mission to destroy
terrorists. There are no losses among the personnel".
He said the
base had been damaged as a result of fighting between IS militants and
Syrian army months before Russian military deployment there.
The
province of Homs stretches out into the Syrian desert towards Raqqa,
the capital of the "caliphate" proclaimed by IS in 2014, and Deir
al-Zour, on the way to the border with Iraq, he notes.
As it tries to shake the government's grip on Homs, IS is facing a diverse range of factions on the ground.
A Kurdish-Arab alliance has announced the launch of a military campaign against IS north of Raqaa.
"With
the participation of all SDF [Syrian Democratic Forces] units, we start
this operation to liberate northern Raqaa" province, the SDF said on
Twitter, quoting Kurdish commander Rojda Felat.
The assault will be supported by air strikes from the US-led coalition bombing IS in Iraq and Syria, it added.
The
Iranian Al-Alam news website carried reports earlier this month that
"Syrian allied forces" had cut off IS supply lines between Raqqa and
Homs by taking over four hills overlooking the Shaer gas fields held by
IS.
But Mr Tack counters that IS supply lines to Raqqa are holding.
"The regime and the Russians are facing notable challenges in trying to disconnect those two.
"Right now though, the emphasis seems to be more on moving towards Deir al-Zour rather than messing with Raqqa."
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