Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/ALEPPO: Israel has launched an air raid on Aleppo airport in Syria, damaging its runway and taking it out of service, according to Syrian state media.
The SANA news agency said that the missile attacks occurred early on Tuesday morning.
Citing an army source, SANA said that Israel “carried out an air attack from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea, west of Latakia, hitting Aleppo International Airport.” SANA said that the raid “caused material damage” to the airport and “put it out of service.”
It was not clear if there were any casualties. There was no comment from Israeli officials.
Aleppo, which suffered widespread destruction in Syria’s civil war, was again damaged in the deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit southern Turkey and northwestern Syria last month. Several countries have since sent aid shipments to the city’s airport.
For almost a decade, Israel carried out hundreds of air attacks against suspected Iranian-sponsored arms transfers and personnel deployments in neighbouring Syria, but it rarely acknowledges and discusses the operations.
Attack on Syrian airports indication of conflict escalation
Military analysts said that the raids, which in recent months have targeted Syrian airports and air bases, are part of the escalation of what has been a low-intensity conflict with the aim of slowing down Iran’s growing entrenchment in Syria.
