Syria's airports in Aleppo and Damascus close following an attack by Israel
Syria's airports in Aleppo and Damascus close following an attack by Israel
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Syrian state-run news agency SANA says Israel carried out airstrikes against the Aleppo and Damascus airports earlier this morning, damaging the runways and putting them both out of service.
In the Damascus strike, one civilian worker was killed and another was wounded, SANA says.
Aleppo International Airport was allegedly targeted by Israel on October 14 and October 12, while Damascus International Airport was allegedly hit only on the 12th.
Both airports have been struck numerous times over the past year, as Israel is believed to be stepping up efforts to prevent the shipment of advanced weapons from Iran to its various Middle East proxies, chief among them Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group.
“At around 5:25 am (0225 GMT), the Israeli enemy carried out… an air attack… targeting Damascus and Aleppo international airports, leading to the death of a civilian worker at Damascus airport and wounding another,” the military source said in the statement carried by state news agency SANA.
“Material damage to the airports’ runways put them out of service,” the statement added. The transport ministry said flights were diverted to Latakia airport.
The military source said the “simultaneous” strikes came “from the direction of the Mediterranean west of Latakia and from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan”, according to the statement.
On October 12, simultaneous strikes knocked both Damascus and Aleppo airports out of service, Syria said at the time.
Last weekend, Israeli strikes targeted Aleppo airport, wounding five people, a war monitor reported, also putting it out of service, according to the authorities.
During more than a decade of war in Syria, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on its northern neighbour, primarily targeting Iran-backed forces and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters as well as Syrian army positions.
Israel rarely comments on individual strikes it carries out on Syria, but it has repeatedly said it will not allow its arch foe Iran, which supports President Bashar al-Assad’s government, to expand its presence there.
(with inputs from agencies)
