BEIRUT: A blast hit a munitions depot northeast of the Syrian capital Tuesday causing casualties, a war monitor said, two days after a similar explosion hit warehouses belonging to pro-Iran groups.
The morning blast struck a depot containing “missiles and ammunition” in an area northeast of Damascus that is “dominated by Lebanon’s Hezbollah” group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Britain-based monitor, which has a wide network of sources inside Syria, reported an unspecified number of casualties in the blast near the town of Al-Ruhaiba.
The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear.
Syrian state media did not immediately report the blast, which came just two days after the Observatory reported explosions at missile warehouses held by pro-Iran groups in a mountainous area west of the capital.
“We don’t know if it was from an air strike or ground operation,” Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman had told AFP on Sunday.
During more than a decade of war in Syria, neighboring Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on Syrian territory, primarily targeting Iran-backed forces and Hezbollah fighters, as well as Syrian army positions.
Israel rarely comments on strikes it carries out on targets in Syria, but it has repeatedly said it will not allow its arch foe Iran to expand its presence.
With Iranian as well as Russian support, the government of President Bashar Assad has clawed back much of the territory it lost to rebels early in the conflict, which broke out in 2011 and has pulled in foreign powers and global jihadists.
The war has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced millions and battered the country’s infrastructure and industry.
Blast hits munitions depot northeast of Damascus
https://arab.news/5kvbg
Blast hits munitions depot northeast of Damascus
- Cause of the explosion was not immediately clear
Jordan begins implementing Royal directives to modernize Arab Army
- On Saturday, it was reported that King Abdullah had announced the strategy
AMMAN: Jordan’s Armed Forces have begun implementing royal directives from King Abdullah II aimed at restructuring and modernizing the Arab Army to strengthen its operational readiness and ability to meet evolving security challenges, it was announced on Sunday.
The overhaul is designed to sharpen combat capabilities and establish a streamlined, flexible force equipped to operate across varied environments, while adapting to the demands of modern and unconventional warfare, the Jordan News Agency reported.
The directives called for closer alignment between organizational structures and operational needs, alongside upgrades to command, control and communications systems.
They also urged stronger integration across military branches and units, as well as expanded use of advanced technologies, including unmanned systems and cyber capabilities.
Plans also include reinforcing reserve forces, improving logistics to ensure reliable supply chains, and supporting Jordan’s defense industries to enhance self-sufficiency and efficiency.
In a statement, the Jordanian Armed Forces said they were fully committed to carrying out the royal directives as part of a broader strategic vision to raise professionalism and preparedness.
On Saturday, it was reported that King Abdullah had announced a strategy “to achieve a structural transformation in the armed forces over the course of the next three years,” Petra said.
In a letter to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the King wrote: “Our Arab Army is a national institution that every Jordanian is proud of.”
“We must examine the requirements for modernizing and developing our Armed Forces, while restructuring them to keep pace with combat demands within various environments of operation,” the king wrote.
The king also said the army must have sufficient reserve forces reinforced with the necessary capabilities.
“Our Armed Forces must have sufficient reserve forces, equipped with the various needed capabilities to execute their operations efficiently.”
