Huge Explosion Rocks Hama Air Base, Casualties Reported

A violent explosion rocked Hama air base on Saturday, shattering windows of the nearby houses and sending a huge plume of smoke. Activists said that the explosion resonated in all parts of Hama, attributing the cause of the explosion to the detonation of a barrel bomb which was being assembled inside the air base. Well-informed sources from inside the air base said that the blast wiped out the entire manufacturing building which was stuffed with barrel bombs that Assad’s air force has been raining on opposition-held areas. At least ten experts in the manufacturing and assembling of barrel bombs were killed in the explosion that also left a large number of injuries who were rushed to Hospitals in the town of Masyaf. It is widely believed that the Hama air base is home to the Assad regime’s largest facilities used for the manufacturing of barrel bombs, and that more than 40 of these bombs are manufactured daily in the air base. The manufacturing of these bombs is reportedly overseen by Iranian experts. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Al Jazeera)