Multiple explosions heard at Syrian military airbase

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Multiple sources, including Syrian state-run media outlets, reported five explosions taking place in quick succession at a military airbase in the province of Hama.

According to The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the explosions were from ammunition and fuel depots in the airbase, but it is unknown whether they were due to technical malfunction or intentional attack.

The warplanes used in bombing Hama, Idlib, and other Syrian areas take off and land at the military airbase, located just outside of the city of Hama, claimed the observatory.

The Associated Press quoted a "Syria war monitor" as saying, "11 people have been killed and dozens wounded and missing in blasts from explosions at a weapons warehouse inside an air base in Syria."

In a statement released on Tuesday, The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) reported that it was likely that chlorine was used as a chemical weapon in the attacks on Idlib last February, though they did not assign responsibility for the acts.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Thursday. According to international reporting, Assad stated that stability in the region was improving and that Putin said, "in light of the fact that a more active political process has begun, foreign armed forces will start leaving Syrian territory."

Editing by John J. Catherine