Israeli strikes put Damascus, Aleppo airports out of service: State media

22-10-2023
Rudaw
A+ A-
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A series of Israeli airstrikes on the Syrian main airports of Damascus and Aleppo knocked them out of service, state media reported, adding that flights will be diverted to Latakia. 

“At approximately 5:25 am today, the Israeli enemy simultaneously carried out an air attack with missiles … targeting the international airports of Damascus and Aleppo,” state media cited a military source as saying. 

The strikes “led to the martyrdom of a civilian worker at Damascus airport, the wounding of another worker, and caused material damage to the two airports’ landing strips, which put them out of service,’ it added. 

Syria’s transport ministry announced later that inbound and outbound flights through both airports will be diverted to Latakia’s airport.

Last week, similar Israeli strikes targeted Aleppo’s airport and put it out of service, two days after both Aleppo and Damascus airports were targeted by a similar strike.

The attacks come as Israel and Palestinian militants fight an all-out war, with Syria’s defense ministry last week blasting Israel for “its continuing crimes against the Palestinian people and the massacres it commits against innocent civilians, including women and children,” and accusing it of supporting “terrorism” in Syria. 

Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on government-controlled areas of Syria throughout its 12-year civil war, often claiming to strike pro-Iran militias, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah groups which supports the Syrian army. 

White it rarely comments on strikes attributed to it in Syria, Israel has repeatedly warned that it would not tolerate its arch-rival Iran to gain a foothold there. 
 

Comments

Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.

To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.

We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.

Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.

Post a comment

Required
Required
 

The Latest

A screenshot from a video depicting Syrian security forces seizing Captagon pills. Photo: Syrian Ministry of Interior

Syria seized 600,000 Captagon pills intended for smuggling to Iraq: Ministry

The Syrian interior ministry announced on Wednesday that security forces in Damascus countryside province seized weapons, ammunition, and 600,000 Captagon pills intended for smuggling into Iraq.