30 killed in munition explosion in Syrian air base

At least 30 Syrian military personnel and pro-government fighters were killed Saturday by an explosion in an air base in central Syria, a war monitor reported.

The soldiers were killed by an explosion that rocked the Shayrat air base in the central province of Homs when soldiers were moving out-of-date munition, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the state news agency SANA.

The death toll could likely rise due to the number of critically wounded soldiers.

The official report said the explosion is a result of a technical error.

The Shayrat air base has been crucial for the Syrian army during the more than eight-year war and it had been struck by the U.S. in 2017 in response to a suspected chemical attack in the town of Khan Shaykhun in the Idlib Province in northwestern Syria.