JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said that it carried out air strikes on Wednesday along the border with Syria and Lebanon, with state media in Damascus saying that key infrastructure had been targeted.
A leading monitor said that 15 people had been wounded in the strikes in an area of Syria’s Homs region which is a known stronghold of Lebanon’s Hezbollah although there was no immediate confirmation from Syrian authorities.
Israel rarely comments on its military operations in Syria but it did confirm the strikes which had been first reported by the Syrian state news agency Sana.
“Earlier today, with the direction of IDF (military) intelligence, the IAF (Israeli airforce) struck smuggling routes between Syria and Lebanon,” the army said in a statement.
“These routes coming from the Syrian side of the border into Lebanon are used to smuggle weapons to the Hezbollah terrorist organization.”
The Sana news agency said that “the Israeli aggression” on the Homs region had been met with a barrage of anti-aircraft fire.
Citing a military source, Sana said that the Israeli planes had targeted bridges along the Orontes river and roads around the Syria-Lebanon border.
The strikes had caused “significant damage,” according to the source, putting some of the infrastructure out of action, without giving details.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor also said that Israeli military aircraft had hit Syrian bridges and military checkpoints.
Fifteen members of the Syrian armed forces or allied groups had been wounded in the strikes, said the observatory which has a vast network of contacts throughout Syria.
But since civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, it has carried out hundreds of air strikes on Syrian government forces and groups supported by its arch-foe Iran, notably Hezbollah troops that have been deployed to assist Assad’s regime.
Israel has carried out frequent raids on highways on the Lebanese side of the border with Syria to cut off potential weapons supplies since a major escalation of its conflict with Hezbollah in September.
Israeli airforce bombs Syria-Lebanon border
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Israeli airforce bombs Syria-Lebanon border
- A leading monitor said that 15 people had been wounded in the strikes in an area of Syria’s Homs region
- “Earlier today, with the direction of IDF (military) intelligence, the IAF (Israeli airforce) struck smuggling routes between Syria and Lebanon,” the army said
Syrian government foils Daesh plot to attack churches and New Year celebrations
- Bomber kills soldier in Aleppo, detonates explosives injuring 2 others
ALEPPO, DAMASCUS: The Syrian Interior Ministry announced on Thursday that it had thwarted a Daesh plot to carry out suicide attacks targeting New Year celebrations and churches, particularly in Aleppo.
The ministry said in a statement that, as part of ongoing counterterrorism efforts and careful monitoring of Daesh cells in cooperation with partner agencies, it had received intelligence indicating plans for suicide attacks targeting New Year celebrations in several provinces, particularly Aleppo, with a focus on churches and civilian gathering areas.
The ministry added that it took preemptive measures, including reinforcing security around churches, deploying mobile and fixed patrols, and setting up checkpoints across the city.
During operations at a checkpoint in Aleppo’s Bab Al-Faraj district, security forces intercepted a suspected Daesh member who opened fire. One internal security soldier was killed, and the attacker detonated explosives, injuring two others.
Daesh recently increased its attacks in Syria, and was blamed for an attack last month in Palmyra that killed three Americans.
On Dec. 13, two US soldiers and an American civilian were killed in an attack Washington blamed on a lone Daesh gunman in Palmyra.
In retaliation, American forces struck scores of Daesh targets in Syria.
Syrian authorities have also carried out several operations against Daesh since then, saying on Dec. 25 they had killed a senior leader of the group.
