Israel attack on Syria fuels fears of escalation

Dubai: Israeli fighter jets struck a series of targets across Damascus early Sunday morning as fears grow that the 26-month-old conflict in Syria may spread into a wider conflict, spilling into neighbouring countries.

Syrian state media reported that Israeli missiles struck a military and scientific research centre near Damascus and caused casualties.

An intelligence official in the Middle East, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Israel launched an airstrike but did not give more precise details about the location. The target was Fateh-110 missiles, which have precision guidance systems with a better aim than anything Hezbollah is known to have in its arsenal, the official told AP.

The Jewish state’s actions drew an immediate and sharp rebuke from Iran, who urged regional countries to resist such acts of “aggression”, foreign ministry spokesperson Ramin Mehman-Parast said.

A diplomatic source in Beirut told AFP that three sites were targeted, including a military facility, a nearby weapons depot and an anti-aircraft unit in Sabura, west of Syria’s capital.

“This new Israeli aggression is a clear attempt to alleviate the pressure on armed terrorist groups after our army beat them back in several regions and after the army’s victories on the road to recovering security and stability in Syria,” said a statement on SANA, Syria’s official news agency.

Israel says the targets were rockets bound for Hezbollah.

Powerful explosion

“It was like an earthquake, the sky was yellow and red,” said 72-year-old Najwa, a resident of the Dumar district of Damascus, about six kilometres from the site of the raids. “The explosions went on for around four hours, they were incredibly powerful,” she added, saying they could be heard far from the scene of the attack.

Video footage of the strikes uploaded on YouTube showed a series of missiles lighting up the clouds overhanging Mount Qasiun as they head towards their targets.

A fire started by the raids is seen burning, captured on camera from a distance, and then suddenly an enormous explosion erupts, producing an orange fireball that momentarily fills the entire screen.

The powerful explosion sent up towering clouds of smoke illuminated by embers of debris and a least one small blast can be heard subsequently.

Bassam, a 60-year-old teacher also living in Dumar, said the blasts began at about 3am on Sunday.

“A huge explosion woke us up. The whole building shook. That was followed by a series of explosions that lasted for half an hour and kept us awake.”

“I’ve never experienced such horror. We heard really loud explosions. We felt as though the bombing was targeting our house,” said Salwa, 50, another Dumar resident. “We hid in the corridor of the house.”

Israel deploys Iron Dome

After the airstrikes overnight, Israel’s military deployed two batteries of its Iron Dome rocket defence system to the country’s north. It described the move as part of “ongoing situational assessments.”

The Iron Dome protects against short-range rockets. Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets at Israel during the 2006 war, while Israeli warplanes destroyed large areas of south Lebanon.

The Fateh-110, or Conqueror, is a short-range ballistic missile developed by Iran and first put into service in 2002. The Islamic Republic unveiled an upgraded version in 2012 that improved the weapon’s accuracy and increased its range to 300 kilometres.

Iranian Defence Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi said at the time that the solid-fuelled missile could strike with pin-point precision, making it the most accurate weapon of its kind in Iran’s arsenal.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group based in London, reported large explosions in the area of Jamraya, a military and scientific research facility northwest of Damascus, about 15 kilometres from the Lebanese border.

Buildings targeted

Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV said the research centre in Jamraya was not hit. It added that an army supply centre was targeted by the strike. It quoted unnamed Syrian security officials as saying that three sites, including military barracks, arms depots and an air defence centre, were targeted by the strike.

The station aired footage of what it said was a facility in Jamraya that was hit in the airstrike. It showed a heavily damaged building as well as what appeared to be a chicken farm with some chickens pecking around in debris scattered with dead birds.

The raid appeared to have taken place next to a major road that was filled with debris, and shell casings were strewn on the ground.

Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen TV, that has several reporters around Syria, said one of the strikes targeted a military position in the village of Saboura, west of Damascus and near the Lebanon border.

“Damascus shook,” said Ma’ath Al Shami, an activist in the city. “The explosion was very, very strong,” he said, adding the raid targeted a military position for the elite Republican Guards that is in charge of protecting Damascus, President Bashar Al Assad’s seat of power.

There has been no official statement from the Syrian military.

— Compiled from agencies