Syria says Israel attacked Aleppo airport, no casualties
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — An Israeli airstrike early Wednesday hit the international airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, causing property damage in the second attack on the facility this month, state media reported.
State news agency SANA, citing an unnamed military official, did not mention whether the attack resulted in any deaths or injuries. He said the warplanes fired missiles at Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and once a trading centre, as they flew over the Mediterranean.
The airport has been one of the main conduits for aid to flow into the country after an earthquake on February 6 thrashed Turkey and Syria, killing more than 50,000 people, more than 6,000 of them in Syria.
On 7 March, an Israeli airstrike put the airport out of action for several days and flights were diverted to two other airports in the war-torn country until the damage could be repaired.
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes against targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, including attacks on airports in Damascus and Aleppo, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations.
Israel has acknowledged, however, that it has targeted bases of militant groups allied with Iran, such as Lebanese Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to bolster Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.
Israel has targeted airports and seaports in government-controlled parts of Syria in an apparent attempt to prevent arms shipments from Iran to Tehran-backed militant groups, including Lebanese Hezbollah.
