Assad regime says Damascus airport hit by Israel airstrikes

By Ethem Emre Ozcan

ANKARA (AA) - The regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria claimed that Israel conducted airstrikes Saturday in the capital city.

The Israeli air force carried out the strikes on the Damascus airport and military points at around 12.45 a.m. local time, according to the official SANA news agency, citing a military source.

Noting five soldiers died in the attacks, the news agency said that the missiles were mostly intercepted by Syrian air defenses.

Israel has not yet issued a statement about the claim.

It is known that in addition to the regime army, there are military points belonging to Iran-allied militias and Hezbollah in Damascus.

The Assad regime had said that the Aleppo Airport was targeted by Israeli forces and was temporarily out of service because of attacks on Sept. 6 and Aug. 31.

Israeli officials generally refrain from commenting on attacks on Syrian territory.

Israel has been sporadically carrying out attacks against Iranian-backed groups and regime military points in Syria since 2011 when the civil war began.

* Writing by Seda Sevencan