Middle East | Syrian media: Israel attacked installation near Damascus

This frame grab from video, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows flames rising after an explosion near an airport west of Damascus, yesterday

An apparent Israeli missile attack on a Syrian military installation near Damascus International Airport shook the capital yesterday and raised tensions between the two hostile neighbors.

The Syrian military said in a statement that the attack, which could be felt at least 15 kilometers away, was carried out by Israel and aimed to “raise the morale of terrorist groups” the government maintains are waging war against President Bashar Assad’s forces.

The military said it would continue its “war on terror” — government parlance for the battle against all groups trying to oust Assad.

Israel appears to be striking at military convoys and installations in Syria at a quickening pace, maintaining it has the right to prevent authorities in Damascus from transferring weapons across the border to the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group.

Hezbollah is a staunch ally of the Syrian government, which is mired in a six-year-long civil war, and also an avowed enemy of Israel, which occupied Lebanon for nearly two decades.

Israeli Minister of Intelligence Yisrael Katz would not comment directly on the incident but said any similar strike would be in line with established policy to interrupt weapons transfers.

“It absolutely matches our declared policy, a policy that we also implement,” Katz told Israel’s Army Radio.

Israel is widely believed to have carried out several airstrikes in recent years on advanced weapons systems in Syria — including Russian-made anti-aircraft missiles and Iranian-made missiles — as well as Hezbollah positions. It rarely comments on such operations.

Activists running the widely followed Damascus-focused Facebook page Diaries of a Mortar reported hearing several explosions before dawn, which they said could be felt across the Syrian capital.

Syria’s state-run SANA news agency said Israel had fired several missiles from inside the Occupied Golan Heights, 60 kilometers south of Damascus, striking a military installation southwest of the airport that serves both military and civilian flights. It reported several explosions and material damage but no casualties. It was not clear how Israel was identified as the culprit.

“The buildings shook from the force of the blast,” said a media activist who goes by Salam al-Ghoutawi, of the Ghouta Media Center, in the city’s opposition-held northeastern suburbs, about 15 kilometers from the airport. He said he heard the roar of jets in the distance at the time.

A string of explosions could be seen silhouetted against the night sky in a video published by the center. Debris is seen flying out as the light of the explosions illuminated a sizeable blast cloud that took shape nearby. A pro-government site Damascus Now said the explosion was near the city’s Seventh Bridge, which leads to the airport road.

Hezbollah’s al-Manar media station reported an explosion at the fuel tanks and a warehouse next to the airport, which is 25 kilometers east of the city center. Al-Manar also speculated the blast was caused by an Israeli strike.

Hezbollah has sent thousands of its militants to fight alongside government forces in Syria’s six-
year-long civil war. Philip Issa, Beirut, AP