Syria missile attack: Satellite photos show major damage
Apr 7, 2017 16:37:06 GMT -5
Post by schwartzie on Apr 7, 2017 16:37:06 GMT -5
Syria missile attack: Satellite photos show major damage to airfields
Published April 07, 2017 FoxNews.com
Satellite images released Friday of the Syrian air base that was pounded with 59 U.S. Tomahawk missiles show large-scale destruction to airfields, planes and fueling facilities allegedly used by the Assad regime to mount chemical weapons attacks.
However, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Syrian warplanes were able to take off from the base and carry out airstrikes in the countryside near Homs.
Shayrat air base was "almost completely destroyed" by the barrage of 1,000-pound warheads launched from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea early Friday, according to a human rights group in the country.
U.S. intelligence sources told Fox News they believe with "high confidence" that a deadly gas attack on Syrian civilians was carried out by government aircraft at Shayrat air base, southeast of Homs.
"Initial indications are that this strike has severely damaged or destroyed Syrian aircraft and support infrastructure and equipment at Shayrat Airfield."
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the missile attack damaged over a dozen hangars, a fuel depot and an air defense base.
At least seven Syrian soldiers were killed and nine wounded in the airstrike, the country's military said.
The governor of Homs province said he did not believe the strikes caused a large number of "human casualties." A Syrian official the attack caused deaths and a fire, but did not elaborate.
Two senior defense officials with knowledge of the strike also told Fox News that about 20 Syrian jets were destroyed.
None of the jets managed to take off and escape before U.S. missiles hit the target, the officials said, adding that all of the destroyed aircraft were jets -- not helicopters. No Russian aircraft were at the Sharyat airfield.
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