© Twitter/ Hadi Albhara
"Rockets strike at Mezzeh Military airport in Damascus minutes ago," Hadi al-Bahra, former president of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces said on Twitter in the early hours of Friday, posting pictures of the explosions. The blasts were reportedly caused by heavy bombing conducted by Israel, local activists and journalists reported on Twitter.
The airport is a major strategic asset used by Syrian elites, military officials and troops as a transit complex.
The army said several missiles were fired at the Mezzeh airport's compounds from the Lake Tiberias area in northern Israel at about 12am Friday. The strike reportedly damaged one of the compounds of the crucial military facility.
The Mezzeh airport is located west of Damascus, just 5 kilometers from the Presidential Palace, the official residence of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The Syrian government also used the airport as a military outpost to launch artillery shells at former rebel-held areas in the suburbs of Damascus.
The death toll from the attacks has yet to be determined, according to a journalist on the ground. The airstrikes "may have taken out Syrian commanders," according to Georgetown Center for Security Studies' John Arterbury.
Syrian state TV says that the Israeli military conducted the airstrike. The Israeli military declined comment.
Earlier in the day, a suicide bomber killed seven people and left many more wounded.
This is the second time in two months the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has being accused by the Syrian government of targeting Syrian positions from Israeli territory.
On December 7, SANA reported that "several surface-to-surface missiles" were launched by the IDF from the Golan Heights. At the time, the source in the Syrian armed forces slammed the attack as a "desperate attempt" by Israel to endorse terrorists.
is probably a pretty tricky issue.
I would expect, that first and foremost, Putin would not want the S-300's to be used as an excuse to incite war against Russia. -
Just imagine what the chances are, here during Obama's last days, of Obama wanting to press war against Russia so much that he (and his handlers) gave Israel tacit encouragement to do this dastardly deed.
Not to mention the chances Israel might be willing to do this on her own simply to bring more chaos in Syria (and allies) - while giving Russia a poke in the eye. I can imagine Israel doing this just to provoke an S-300 missile strike which opens up the door for the US to counter-strike in defense of poor little Israel.
Back to basics, tho' - Putin's in it for the long game. I expect he feels it's not worth risking a huge conflict with the western coalition just to put down one antagonistic Israeli fighter that's clearly trying to draw a violent response.