Israel Suspected Of Destroying Syrian Air Base By Missile Attack From Sea
REUTERS/Baz RatnerA Syrian air base near the coastal area of Latakia sustained heavy damage late Wednesday night in a suspected missile attack from the sea, and Israel is suspected of carrying out a strike on missiles.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported a loud explosion in a Syrian army base and The Times of Israel cited Twitter users who said the blast occurred near Snobar Jableh, just south of the city.
The pro-regime Syrian news outlet Dam Press reported that the site was heavily damaged but there were no injuries.
Multiple Syrian and Lebanese sources speculated that Israel carried out the strike from the Mediterranean. The subreddit r/syriancivilwar has a rundown of all of the reports.
The Twitter user @RamiAlLolah first reported that a strike had occurred, saying that a missile from the sea was seen hitting the facility and noting that Israeli jets had entered Lebanese airspace earlier in the day.
"During the night, we noticed much aircraft activity," an eyewitness told a Lebanese Al-Mustaqbal news outlet. "At a certain point, we were woken up by the sound of blasts and we saw a large fire and many explosions at the agricultural institute. Military and security forces arrived at the scene, put out the flames, and closed off the entire area for kilometers."
The Times of Israel notes that satellite pictures suggests the base held S-125 surface-to-air anti-aircraft missiles.
Israel has been suspected of bombing missiles shipments suspected of reaching the Iranian proxy group Hezbollah in Lebanon at least five times since January.