IS ”destroyed helicopters” at Russian base

New satellite imagery appears to reveal extensive damage to a strategically significant airbase in central Syria used by Russian forces after an 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 […]

New satellite imagery appears to reveal extensive damage to a strategically significant airbase in central Syria used by Russian forces after an 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 that it lost helicopters at the base as a result of an IS attack.
A news agency linked to IS, Amaq, was the first to report the incident, without saying what had caused the fires.
“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.