Russia slammed Israel on Friday night following an attack in Syria attributed to Israel which disabled Damascus Aiport.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakhorba condemned the attacks as “a vicious practice of attacks on civilian infrastructure,” adding that the attacks are “provocative and in violation of international law.”
An Israeli airstrike that struck Damascus International Airport caused “significant” damage to infrastructure and rendered the main runway unserviceable until further notice, Syria said Saturday.
The statement by the Transportation Ministry was the first detailing the extent of damage from Friday’s airstrike. Syrian media reported earlier that Syria suspended all flights to and from the airport and the ministry confirmed all flights were suspended because “some technical equipment stopped functioning at the airport.”
Israel’s military has declined to comment on the airstrike.
Saturday’s statement said the runway had been damaged “in several locations” and that the strike also hit the airport’s second terminal building.
“As a result of these damages, incoming and outgoing flights through the airport were suspended until further notice,” it said.
The airport is located south of the capital Damascus where Syrian opposition activists say Iran-backed militiamen are active and have arms depots.
Israel has for years carried out strikes in the area, including one on May 21 that resulted in a fire near the airport leading to the postponement of two flights. This was the first time an airstrike caused damage leading to the suspension of flights at the airport.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the Friday morning Israeli strike hit three arms depots for Iran-backed militiamen inside the airport, adding that the northern runway at the facility was damaged, as was the observation tower.
The Observatory added that the northern runway was the only one functioning after Israeli strikes last year badly damaged the other runway, known as the southern runway.
Israel has staged hundreds of strikes on targets in Syria over the years but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations. It says it targets bases of Iran-allied militias, such as Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group. Hezbollah has fighters deployed in Syria fighting on the side of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government forces and ships arms believed to be bound for the militias.
The Syrian Transportation Ministry statement said civil aviation cadres and specialized units were working to remove debris and repair damage and that operations will resume as soon as flight safety can be ensured.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem & AP)
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One Response
Israel did this because they claimed Iran was transporting missiles for Hezbollah in civilian planes that used that airport. According to Russia themselves any facility used to transport arms to the enemy is a legitimate target and in fact Russia destroyed an army camp with a runway in western Ukraine because it was being used for NATO countries to bring arms to Ukraine. So this is hypocrisy on the part of Russia, claiming that what is proper for them is cause for condemnation when it is done against a country that is their ally.