The Israeli ImageSat International on Thursday published satellite images revealing massive damage in Shayrat airfield in central Homs province, following the Israeli airstrikes on March 31.
ImageSat International images showed 6-7 hits on the runway and access routes and additional two on navigation systems, according to the Jerusalem Post.
The airstrikes was probably intended to lockout Shayrat airbase operations. This would interdict weapons transfers from Iran to Syria. Iran supplies the Syrian regime and allied forces in Syria, as well as Hezbollah, the Israeli daily reported.
The Shayrat attack may contribute to stopping the use of this base for weapons transfers, the ISIS report notes. The airport is laid out with two runways at angles shaped like a giant “V,” and both seem cratered.
The base is located about 140km north of Damascus and about 150km south of the important Russian airbase at Hmeimim in Latakia.
The Shayrat base is a strategic location and for Iran’s weapons transfers it is an easy way to bring weapons closer to the frontlines in Idlib or to move them via Hezbollah posts in Qusayr down the Beka’a valley. Now the Syrian regime and its Iranian allies will have to repair the runways.
According to the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), a deadly chemical attack on the town of al-Latamenh was launched from Shayrat airbase in 2018.
Also, the Khan Sheikhoun chemical attack in April 2017 was launched from Shayrat, activists said.
Zaman Al Wasl
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