Massive Explosions Rocked Syria's Hama Air Base

11 said killed, dozens hurt in blasts at Syria's Hama air base, cause unclear

Massive explosions rocked the Hama military air base in western Syrian early on Friday afternoon, killing at least 11 pro-Assad regime fighters, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Syrian state media confirmed that blasts were heard coming from the base, but made no comment on casualties or the cause of the explosions.

There were conflicting reports as to what set off the blasts, which sent a huge plume of grey smoke into the air above the base.

“The explosions struck several regime depots of weapons and fuel at Hama military airport,” the Observatory said.

Syrians in Hama reported hearing at least five successive blasts, likely indicating that fuel depots and weapons caches had been hit by the blast, setting off a daisy-chain of explosions.

At least 11 members of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s coaltion were killed and dozens more were wounded in the mysterious blasts, according to the monitor.

According to the Observatory, both Syrians and foreign nationals were among the casualties.

The Sky News Arabia outlet reported that the explosions were caused by an attack on an advanced Iranian air defense system.

However, Syrian military sources told the Lebanese el-Nashra TV station that the blasts were caused by a “technical malfunction” at a weapons storage depot.

There were no immediate comments by Syrian officials on who or what was behind the explosions.

The blasts came soon after midday, as the region is experiencing a scorching heat wave. Almost all previous Israeli airstrikes on targets in Syria have been late at night or in the pre-dawn hours.

According to Sky News, the target of the strike was an Iranian Bavar 373 long-range missile defense system, a state-of-the-art model that was unveiled in 2016 and put into service in March 2017. Iranian officials compare the system to the Russian-made S-300 system, which is considered a powerful air defense platform.

Video footage from the scene, posted to social media, showed a huge cloud of smoke rising out of the military air field.