{"id":133575,"date":"2016-05-24T16:10:35","date_gmt":"2016-05-24T16:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=133575"},"modified":"2016-05-27T06:27:08","modified_gmt":"2016-05-27T06:27:08","slug":"syrian-base-used-by-russia-damaged-in-is-attack-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=133575","title":{"rendered":"Syrian base used by Russia damaged in IS attack: report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction — May 24, 2016<\/h1>\n
\"A<\/a>

A Russian Sukhoi Su-24 front-line bomber is seen on a runway shortly before taking off, part of the withdrawal of Russian troops from Syria, at Hmeymim airbase, Syria, March 16, 2016. REUTERS\/Russian Ministry of Defence\/Vadim Grishankin\/Handout via Reuters<\/p><\/div>\n

Russia has emphatically denied that it had sustained casualties and lost helicopters during an alleged attack by Islamic State. Russia’s denial appears below but it is interesting that the Western corporate media gives credence to what is essentially Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL or Daesh) propaganda.<\/h5>\n
Even more significant is the fact that this is being echoed by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). For not only is the SOHR a known disinformation outfit<\/a><\/span>, it is also suspected of having ties with Western intelligence.<\/h5>\n
Based in a two-bedroom house in Coventry, England, the SOHR is run by a single Syrian expatriate, Rami Abdulrahman, who hasn’t been back to his homeland in 15 years<\/a><\/span>. That in itself should call into question the integrity of his reports. Especially as they routinely cast the Russians and their Syrian allies in a negative light and often remain entirely uncorroborated.<\/h5>\n
Two recent examples serve to illustrate this.<\/h5>\n
Last month there were numerous reports of attacks on civilians in Aleppo<\/a><\/span>. Washington and the SOHR blamed “Syrian government air strikes”. However, eyewitnesses and independent journalists reported that Western backed militants were responsible.<\/h5>\n
Earlier in January the SOHR reported that 63 civilians were killed in Russian air strikes on the Syrian city of Deir al-Zor<\/a><\/span>. Again that report remained entirely unverified but the message should be clear: if a report cites the SOHR or just a “Syrian monitor” treat with caution — it’s probably disinformation. Ed.<\/h5>\n

Daesh Propaganda Fail: Moscow Slams ‘Fake’ Reports of Attack on Syria Base<\/h1>\n

Sputnik News — May 24, 2016<\/h2>\n

The Russian Defense Ministry categorically denied on\u00a0Tuesday reports of\u00a0alleged destruction of\u00a0Russian helicopters operating in\u00a0Syria and casualties among\u00a0the personnel of\u00a0the Russian airbase near\u00a0Syria’s Latakia.<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier in\u00a0the day, US-based intelligence analysis company Stratfor said in\u00a0a report that Daesh jihadists possibly destroyed four Russian Mi-24 attack helicopters in\u00a0an artillery attack on\u00a0an airbase in\u00a0Syria. The firm cited satellite imagery it acquired.<\/span><\/p>\n

“All Russian combat helicopters in\u00a0Syria carry out\u00a0planned tasks aimed at\u00a0eliminating terrorists. There are no casualties among\u00a0personnel of\u00a0the Russian base,” the ministry’s spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Konashenkov stressed that rumors of\u00a0alleged destruction of\u00a0an entire unit of\u00a0Russian combat helicopters and two dozen of\u00a0trucks at\u00a0the Hmeymim airbase originated from\u00a0Daesh terrorists who fruitlessly attempted to “sell” this so-called “breaking news” some 10 days ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to\u00a0Stratfor, the attack on\u00a0the airbase, located in\u00a0the Homs province near\u00a0the city of\u00a0Palmyra, occurred on\u00a0May 14. On the same day, the Daesh group, which is outlawed in\u00a0Russia and many other countries, claimed that its militants had destroyed four Russian attack helicopters and 20 trucks loaded with\u00a0ammunition.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source <\/a><\/p>\n

Syrian base used by Russia damaged in IS attack: report<\/h1>\n

AFP — May 24, 2016<\/h2>\n

Satellite imagery appears to show extensive damage to an air base in Syria used by Russian forces following an attack by fighters from the Islamic State group, US intelligence company Stratfor said Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

The claim was immediately denied by Russia’s defence ministry which said that the damage had been there for months and was due to fighting between Syrian government forces and “militants from terror groups”.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stratfor released satellite images dated from May 14 and May 17, implying that the damage to the T-4 base, also known as Tiyas, was caused in that time.<\/span><\/p>\n

The images suggest four helicopters and 20 lorries were destroyed by fire inside the base, which strategically located in central Syria between war-ravaged Palmyra and Homs.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The T4 air base was severely damaged by an Islamic State artillery attack. In particular, four Russian Mi-24 attack helicopters appear to have been destroyed,” Stratfor said on their website.<\/span><\/p>\n

The cause of the apparent damage could not be determined from the images obtained by Stratfor.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the BBC quoted Stratfor analyst Sim Tack as saying that “this was not an accidental explosion”.<\/span><\/p>\n

It “would really be a marginal, almost non-existent chance for this to be accidental,” he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tack said there was evidence of “several different sources of explosions across the airport, and it shows that the Russians took a quite a bad hit”.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Stratfor report said that “ordnance impact points are visible” in the images and that a Syrian MiG-25 fighter jet also appeared to have been damaged.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said: “The burnt air and auto equipment along with many craters from shell detonations have been there for several months.<\/span><\/p>\n

“This is a result of heavy combat for this aerodrome between Syrian government forces and militants of terrorist groups.”<\/span><\/p>\n

– Russian role key –<\/h2>\n

Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted an unnamed Syrian source confirming a “fire” at the base, though he did not specify when it had occurred.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The reasons of the fire are unknown. It started near the space where four helicopters were located. Fire engines could not access the fire due to shelling by terrorists. The fire spread to the helicopters,” the source said, adding that there were no casualties or injuries sustained in the shelling.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had reported shelling of the T-4 base on May 11 after IS jihadists briefly took control of part of a route between Palmyra and Homs.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Though the Islamic State failed to cut off the road for any extended amount of time, it did move artillery within range of the base, which it subsequently shelled,” Stratfor said in its analysis.<\/span><\/p>\n

The British-based Observatory also said two days later that continued shelling had caused an explosion at a fuel depot and a fire that destroyed three helicopters.<\/span><\/p>\n

On May 15, the IS-affiliated Amaq news agency said that four Russian combat helicopters and 20 trucks carrying rockets had been destroyed at the T-4 base by a fire but did not provide further details.<\/span><\/p>\n

IS seized control of large parts of Syria and Iraq in mid-2014, and the group has claimed deadly attacks in the West and throughout the Middle East.<\/span><\/p>\n

Russia’s intervention has significantly strengthened the Syrian government in a five-year civil war that has killed more than 270,000 people and driven millions from their homes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is good reason to doubt this report. The giveaway is that it is being carried by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights — a known disinfo outfit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43,83,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-Ersatz_Media_Activists","category-syria","category-The_Media"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=133575"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133580,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133575\/revisions\/133580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=133575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=133575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=133575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}