By Ali Abo Rezeg
(AA): Israeli bombing of the Syrian capital Damascus overnight Thursday into Friday led to the killing of seven people, including four Iranian officers, a Syrian observatory center said.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported, quoting local sources, that the bombing killed three members of the Syrian regime, including two officers, and four Iranians.
It added that Israeli missiles targeted the Damascus International Airport area.
The group also said the attacks took place after the arrival of a cargo plane to the targeted area, adding that it is unclear “whether the plane arrived from Iran or from another area inside Syrian territory.”
Syrian official news agency SANA reported late on Thursday that the army’s air defenses “intercepted hostile targets in the airspace of Damascus.”
Citing a military source, SANA added that “at 23.45 p.m. [2145GMT] on Thursday, the army observed hostile missiles coming from over the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, and immediately the army air defenses intercepted and downed a number of them before they reach their targets.”
“The hostile missiles came from over the occupied Syrian Golan,” it added, referring to the Israeli warplanes.
Israeli officials, however, have yet to officially claim responsibility for the reported strike.
On February 6, Israeli fighter jets launched air strikes from the Golan Heights on areas on the outskirts of Damascus. The attacks inflicted losses on the Syrian military personnel and equipment.
On February 7, an Israeli airstrike, carried out as Syria troops were liberating the Saraqib in northwestern Idlib province, endangered a civilian flight carrying 172 passengers, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said the civil Airbus-320 was heading to Damascus from the Iranian capital when it was forced to divert its route as the Syrian capital’s air defenses were intercepting Israeli missiles.
The plane made an emergency landing in the Hmeymim air base in Syria’s western coastal province of Latakia.
“Only due to timely actions of the Damascus airport dispatchers and the efficient operation of the automated air traffic control system, the Airbus-320 managed to… successfully land at the closest alternative airfield,” Konashenkov said.
Since the outbreak of the Syria conflict in early 2011, Israel has occasionally struck positions inside the war-torn country.
Additional report by The Muslim News
[Map of Syria. Wikimedia/Creative Commons]
