The latest air raid reportedly targeted the central Homs province, following strikes on Damascus
FILE PHOTO © AP / Maya Alleruzzo
Syria’s air defenses have been activated in response to a wave of “Israeli aggression” for the third time in four days, the state Syrian Arab News Agency reported on Sunday.
The attack came from the Lebanese airspace at around 00:35am local time, targeting the city of Homs and its surroundings, an unnamed military official told SANA. The military source confirmed “some material damages” and at least five injuries among soldiers, after air defenses failed to intercept some of the missiles.
The latest air raid came after two nights of strikes on the Syrian capital and its suburbs. The first barrage of missiles hit Damascus early on Thursday, shortly after midnight local time. The Syrian military blamed the IDF for the attack that came from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and injured at least two soldiers in addition to causing some “material damage.”
Another wave of missiles targeted a location in the Damascus countryside the next night, around 12:17am local time, but caused no casualties, according to the Syrian military.
However, Iran later confirmed that a military instructor from its Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was killed in the Friday strike, promising that Israel’s “criminal” act would not go “unanswered.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has not commented on any of the attacks, in line with its long-standing policy of not discussing its operations conducted outside the country. However, Israeli warplanes have repeatedly bombed targets inside Syria over the country’s decade-long struggle against jihadists, with recently re-elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once acknowledging “hundreds” of strikes over the years.
On the occasions that the Israel Defense Forces comment on the attacks, they claim to be hitting Iranian and Hezbollah targets in pre-emptive self-defense against Tehran’s growing influence in Syria. Damascus has repeatedly protested the raids as a violation of Syrian sovereignty, to no avail.
