Syria air strike target 'removed'
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Newly-released satellite images of the presumed site of an Israeli air raid on Syria last month suggest that a large building has been completely removed.
US research group, the Institute for Science and International Security, obtained and analysed the images.
The industrial-style building may have been a nuclear reactor under construction, says the ISIS.
A BBC correspondent says the images are not conclusive. Nor is it certain that they show the site hit by Israeli jets.
The Israeli strike has been shrouded in mystery and speculation.
Originally Israel did not even admit that the 6 September raid had been carried out, and its military censor ordered a complete blackout on information.
But Syria said Israeli warplanes violated its airspace in what it called a "hostile act", and Israel eventually acknowledged the mission some four weeks later.
Intelligence sources hinted at a possible link with North Korea's nuclear programme.
'Resemblance'
On Wednesday the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), an independent organisation, released satellite images pre-dating the attack, of a facility in northern Syria that it believes was the target.
They showed both a large industrial building and a pumping station near the Euphrates river.
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
6 Sept: Syria says air defences fired at Israeli jets, which "dropped some ammunition without causing any material damage"
Week one: Israel says nothing; US officials say Israel struck an unspecified target; one US source hints at links to North Korea
Week two: N Korea denies any link to Syria; Israeli opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu admits Israel made strike
Week three: Syrian president says a military construction site was hit and speaks of "retaliation"; Israel confirms strike on "military target"
The ISIS said the building bore a resemblance to the Yongbyon nuclear facility in North Korea.
"The length of the outer walls of the structures are approximately the same," the institute said in its analysis.
"From the image, the Syrian building is similar in shape to the North Korean reactor building, but the Syrian building is not far enough along in its construction to make a definitive comparison," it said.
The ISIS has now produced a more recent image of the same site taken on 24 October, more than six weeks after the alleged air attack.
The image appears to show that the building has been completely removed and the ground scraped clean.
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