Follow up to this story from yesterday.
[IsraelTimes] Damascus alleges southern neighbor destroyed civilian infrastructure as well as key facility needed to import aid for victims of deadly February earthquakeSyria and Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites....accused Israel of criminal behavior after Israeli Air Force jets allegedly carried out an
...
KABOOM!...
at the airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Syria’s Foreign Ministry decried a "double crime," saying the strike targeted both "a civilian airport... and one of the key channels for the arrival of humanitarian aid
" for victims of the deadly earthquake that devastated the region in February.Syrian Transport Ministry official Suleiman Khalil told AFP that "it is no longer possible to receive aid flights until the damage has been repaired," adding that the strike had put the runway out of service.
Iran, an ally of Syria, condemned the strike, calling it a "crime against humanity."
"While the Syrian earthquake victims in Aleppo are experiencing difficult conditions, the Zionist regime is attacking Aleppo airport," Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement.
According to a report in Syria’s state news agency SANA, local air defenses were activated but it was not clear if there were any interceptions. Syria regularly claims to have intercepted Israeli missiles, though military analysts doubt such assertions. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Short clips and photos allegedly from the site of the strike, circulating on social media, show a fire at the airport.
There was no comment from the Israel Defense Forces, in line with its policy of not generally commenting on air raids in Syria. Israel is believed to have carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, including attacks on the Damascus and Aleppo airports, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations.
Israel has acknowledged, however, that it targets bases of Iran-allied turban groups, such as
...a formerly French, now an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. ...
’s
Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Leveler of Latakia...
’s forces. Israel views Iran’s expansion throughout Syria as a continued threat to its national security, and has conducted these strikes across a broad range of targets in an effort to curb Iran’s forces in the region.
SANA, citing a military source, said early Tuesday that "the Israeli enemy carried out an air attack from the Mediterranean [Sea]... targeting the Aleppo International Airport." The source said the airport sustained "material damage," and was not currently operating.