Israeli Raid Shuts Down Damascus Airport Say Syrian Military

Israeli Raid Shuts Down Damascus Airport, Say Syrian Military

Two soldiers killed when an Israeli raid shuts down Damascus International Airport for the second time in less than a year.

Syria’s military says an Israeli airstrike killed at least two Syrian soldiers and disabled the country’s main international airport.

The airstrike, which targeted Damascus International Airport and its surroundings, took place around 2 a.m. local time on Monday (Sunday 23:00 GMT), the military said in a statement to official SANA news agency.

The attack resulted in “the deaths of two soldiers, the wounding of two others, some material losses” and rendered the airport inoperative, the statement said.

There was no immediate comment from Israel.

The incident marked the second time Damascus International Airport has been shut down in less than a year.

On June 10, Israeli airstrikes that hit the airport caused significant damage to infrastructure and runways.

It reopened two weeks later after repairs.

Israel has conducted hundreds of raids on targets in government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.

However, Israel has acknowledged that it is targeting bases of Iran-aligned armed groups such as Lebanese Hezbollah, which has dispatched thousands of fighters to support Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.