Damascus airport rocked by huge explosion after suspected Israeli air strike!
DAMASCUS, Syria (PNN) - April 27, 2017 - Israeli strikes hit an arms depot operated by the Lebanese Hezbollah group near Damascus airport on Thursday in a brazen attack on its enemy inside Syria.
The early morning raid was outside the international airport itself on a hub operated by the Shia militia, where weapons from Iran are regularly sent by commercial and military cargo planes.
Israeli warplanes have hit the airport and other bases around the capital in the past, targeting what it said were weapons stockpiles of its foe Hezbollah, which is allied with the Syrian government.
Footage from the area overnight showed several strikes followed by a large orange fireball.
Hezbollah's al-Manar TV channel said the strike caused only material damage.
"Al-Manar's correspondent reported that an explosion struck at dawn on Thursday in fuel tanks and a warehouse near Damascus International Airport and that it was probably the result of an Israeli strike," the channel said.
Israel Intelligence Minister Israel Katz told Israeli Army Radio this morning, "I can confirm that the incident in Syria corresponds completely with Israel's policy to act to prevent Iran's smuggling of advanced weapons via Syria to Hezbollah," he said, stopping short of admitting responsibility for the strikes. "The prime minister has said that whenever we receive intelligence that indicates an intention to transfer advanced weapons to Hezbollah, we will act."
Israel does not usually confirm or deny each individual raid it carries out.
According to a flight radar tracking site, four cargo planes originating from Iran landed at the airport just hours before the strike.
The airport lies about 15 miles southeast of the capital.
It was hit by Israeli air strikes in December 2014, Syrian state media reported at the time.
But last month, it said it had carried out several strikes near the Syrian desert city of Palmyra, targeting what it said were "advanced weapons" belonging to Hezbollah.
