BICOM

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) reportedly attacked a number of targets in Damascus, Homs and on the Syrian-Lebanon border last night.

According to Syrian state television sixteen people were killed, including a baby, and more than 20 people were injured in one air strike in the Damascus area. A Syrian military official said that anti-aircraft systems were activated and intercepted missiles that IAF aircraft had fired from Lebanese airspace.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the IAF and navy ships attacked targets belonging to the regime, Iranian militias and Hezbollah. The report stated that missiles were fired at a base housing the 1st Division in the area of al-Kiswah, at Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) sites south of Damascus, at a scientific research centre in the outskirts of Damascus linked to the production of chemical weapons and at a military airfield. Israel has not commented on the airstrikes.

Lebanese Al Mayadeenn TV reported that one of the targets hit was in the town of al-Kiswah, which has been targeted by Israel in the past and contains weapons storage facilities. The US Army Central Command last night confirmed that US forces had conducted an airstrike on an al-Qaeda in Syria (AQ-S) training facility near Aleppo. The US said: “This operation targeted AQ-S operatives responsible for plotting external attacks threatening US citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians. Northwest Syria remains a safe haven where AQ-S leaders actively coordinate terrorist activity, to include planning attacks throughout the region and in the west.”

ImageSat International, an Israeli satellite image analysis company, published photos showing that Russia has completed the deployment of its S-300 missile defence system in Masyaf, north-western Syria. Four S-300 missile batteries alongside two advanced radar systems designed to be used in conjunction with anti-aircraft weaponry can be seen in the images. Yesterday the Israeli military confirmed that new satellite imagery revealed Syria’s S-300 air defence system was fully operational.