- Five troops were killed.
- Property was also damaged in an airstrike.
- Syria’s Damascus International Airport was targeted.
Five troops were killed and property was damaged in an airstrike by Israel on Syria’s Damascus International Airport and other positions south of the capital, according to the ministry of defense.
According to a statement from the ministry early on Saturday, Syrian air defenses intercepted the raid and were able to shoot down the majority of the missiles.
It was not immediately clear whether the attack had an impact on the airport in Damascus’ ability to conduct flights.
The airport and other facilities south of the city were the targets of the attack, according to the defense ministry’s statement on its website, which was launched at approximately 00:45 local time (21:45 GMT).
Five troops were killed and some property was damaged as a result of the aggression, a military source was reported as saying by Syria’s official news agency Sana.
According to regional diplomatic and intelligence sources, Israel has increased its airstrikes on Syrian airports in an effort to thwart Tehran’s growing reliance on aerial supply channels to transport weapons to allies in Syria and Lebanon, particularly Hezbollah.
Three soldiers were killed last month after an Israeli missile attack in the countryside south of the coastal province of Tartous and near the capital Damascus.
Israeli airstrikes in June forced the airport in Damascus to close for almost two weeks.
Israeli attacks have twice specifically targeted Aleppo airport in the last month.
Israel has acknowledged carrying out hundreds of attacks in Syria, which it has claimed are vital to stop Iran, a rival regional power, from establishing a presence on its doorstep, despite rarely commenting on specific attacks.
Following impediments to land transportation due to a raging civil conflict, Tehran views air transportation as a more dependable method of delivering military materiel to its forces and ally fighters in Syria.
Since protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2011 turned into a civil war that drew in global powers and left Syria split into rival zones of control, hundreds of thousands of people have killed and millions have been made homeless.
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