Syria
A picture shows the Syrian flag swaying in the wind at the Damascus International airport in the Syrian capital. Photo: Louai Beshara/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A series of Israeli airstrikes on the Syrian main airports of Damascus and Aleppo knocked them out of service, state media reported, adding that flights will be diverted to Latakia.
“At approximately 5:25 am today, the Israeli enemy simultaneously carried out an air attack with missiles … targeting the international airports of Damascus and Aleppo,” state media cited a military source as saying.
The strikes “led to the martyrdom of a civilian worker at Damascus airport, the wounding of another worker, and caused material damage to the two airports’ landing strips, which put them out of service,’ it added.
Syria’s transport ministry announced later that inbound and outbound flights through both airports will be diverted to Latakia’s airport.
Last week, similar Israeli strikes targeted Aleppo’s airport and put it out of service, two days after both Aleppo and Damascus airports were targeted by a similar strike.
The attacks come as Israel and Palestinian militants fight an all-out war, with Syria’s defense ministry last week blasting Israel for “its continuing crimes against the Palestinian people and the massacres it commits against innocent civilians, including women and children,” and accusing it of supporting “terrorism” in Syria.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on government-controlled areas of Syria throughout its 12-year civil war, often claiming to strike pro-Iran militias, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah groups which supports the Syrian army.
White it rarely comments on strikes attributed to it in Syria, Israel has repeatedly warned that it would not tolerate its arch-rival Iran to gain a foothold there.
“At approximately 5:25 am today, the Israeli enemy simultaneously carried out an air attack with missiles … targeting the international airports of Damascus and Aleppo,” state media cited a military source as saying.
The strikes “led to the martyrdom of a civilian worker at Damascus airport, the wounding of another worker, and caused material damage to the two airports’ landing strips, which put them out of service,’ it added.
Syria’s transport ministry announced later that inbound and outbound flights through both airports will be diverted to Latakia’s airport.
Last week, similar Israeli strikes targeted Aleppo’s airport and put it out of service, two days after both Aleppo and Damascus airports were targeted by a similar strike.
The attacks come as Israel and Palestinian militants fight an all-out war, with Syria’s defense ministry last week blasting Israel for “its continuing crimes against the Palestinian people and the massacres it commits against innocent civilians, including women and children,” and accusing it of supporting “terrorism” in Syria.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on government-controlled areas of Syria throughout its 12-year civil war, often claiming to strike pro-Iran militias, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah groups which supports the Syrian army.
White it rarely comments on strikes attributed to it in Syria, Israel has repeatedly warned that it would not tolerate its arch-rival Iran to gain a foothold there.
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