Satellite images appearing to show the US expanding a formerly disused air strip in Kurdish-controlled northern Syria, the BBC news said on Friday.

The image, from the security analysts Stratfor, shows a runway near the town of Rmeilan being extended from 700m to 1.3km.

That would be long enough to land a Hercules aircraft.

It could be a new US move against Daesh.

Rumours of US military activity in the area have been circulating for weeks, Stratfor says.

Access to a longer runway would enable the US to land transport planes such as Hercules in Syria's north-east, enabling it to drop off weapons supplies to Kurdish forces in the area, instead of depending on airdrops.

A US-led coalition of Western and Middle Eastern countries began air strikes against Daesh in Iraq in August 2014 and in Syria a month later.

Source: MENA