A war monitoring group said Sunday at least two military personnel were killed and 11 wounded in overnight explosions caused by suspected Israeli strikes on a military airport on the edge of the Syrian capital.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the blasts that rocked Damascus resulted in several explosions in a weapons depot inside the airport. The Observatory, which relies on various sources inside Syria, said some of the wounded are in critical condition.
The pro-regime media initially blamed the blasts on Israel, but state media later quoted an unnamed Syrian military official as saying the explosions were caused by an electrical malfunction in a munition depot nearby.
Also on Sunday, France’s foreign minister said Bashar Assad has won his country’s civil war but won’t “win the peace” without a political solution brokered by the international community. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also reiterated threats of Western retaliation if Assad cedes to the “temptation” of using chemical weapons in the looming battle for northern Idlib. Le Drian said Sunday on France-Inter radio that “Assad won the war, we have to state this. But he hasn’t won the peace.”
Battle for Idlib
He said that even if Assad’s forces retake Idlib, that won’t solve the problems that unleashed the war seven years ago.
He said France will press at this month’s UN General Assembly for a political solution in Syria, and is holding talks with Russia, Turkey and Iran to push them to use their influence with Assad to ensure political negotiations after the war ends. Meanwhile, Pope Francis on Sunday appealed to warring parties in Syria to defend human rights and safeguard the civilian population in Idlib. After seven years of civil war, Idlib and surrounding areas are the last major enclave held by the opposition, a close Russian ally.
“The winds of war are blowing and we are receiving troubling news about the risk of a possible humanitarian catastrophe in Syria, in the province of Idlib,” Francis told thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
“I renew my heartfelt appeal to the international community and all the actors involved to use the tools of diplomacy, dialogue and negotiation to ensure the respect of international human rights and to safeguard civilian lives,” he added.
A major offensive in the Idlib area, where displaced people already make up half the population, risks forcing another 700,000 Syrians from their homes, the UN has said.
Syria’s foreign minister said on Thursday that the regime forces would “go all the way” in Idlib, and that Damascus’s main targets were Al-Nusra militants. The minister said Syria would try to avoid civilian deaths.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday the US viewed a military assault on Idlib as an escalation of the Syrian conflict.
