An air raid in eastern Syria along the Iraqi border made brief headlines Nov. 9. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported at least 14 people were killed in the strikes, mostly fighters. The attacks hit a convoy of “fuel tankers and trucks loaded with weapons” in Deir az-Zor province, the Observatory said. (Al Jazeera) This set off immediate speculation that the raid was the latest in the small but growing handful of times over the course of the 10-year Syrian war that the US has bombed forces allied with the Assad regime, generally targeting the Iran-backed paramilitary network in the country. The Deir az-Zor strikes did immediately follow the slaying of a US aid worker in Iraq. (The National) However, Israel has for years also carried out sporadic air-strikes on similar targets in Syria, and has likewise come under suspicion in this attack. (ToI, Haaretz)
Getting far less media attention are ongoing air-strikes by Russia and the Assad regime on the remaining pocket of rebel control in Syria’s northwest. Just three days before the Deir az-Zor attack, Russian or regime strikes near Idlib city targeted a displaced persons camp, leaving at least seven noncombatants dead—and winning few international headlines.
Turkey, meanwhile, in addition to carrying out intermittent drone strikes on the Kurdish autonomous zone in northeast Syria, continues to maintain its own zone of control in Syria’s northwest—where it faces growing civil resistance from the populace. Most recently, the Oct. 7 assassination of media activist Muhammad Abdul Latif (AKA Abu Ghannoum) by militiamen of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) set off protests in al-Bab, Aleppo province. (Syria Direct)
Image: Pixabay
Syria: Israeli air raid takes Aleppo airport out of service
Israel has launched an air’raid on Syria’s Aleppo airport, damaging its runway, according to regime state media. Citing a military source, SANA said Israel “Carried out an air attack from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea, west of Latakia, targeting Aleppo International Airport,” putting it “out of service.” (Al Jazeera)
US strikes Iran-backed militia in northeast Syria
US warplanes struck an Iran-backed militia in northeast Syria, after an Iranian-made drone killed a contractor and wounded five troops in an attack on an American position in Hasakah. Unconfirmed claims said eight fighters were killed by the US strikes, on a weapons depot in Deir ez-Zor city and on positions near al-Mayadin and al-Boukamal. The strikes come during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. (EA Worldview, Politico)
Israeli strikes on Syria intensify
Presumed Israeli airstrikes on Syria in recent weeks have killed two Iranian military advisers, temporarily put the Damascus and Aleppo airports out of service, and raised fears of regional escalation. On March 19, a commander of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad was shot dead outside his apartment building near Damascus in what the group described as an assassination by Israeli agents. (AP)
Drone attack on Syria military academy ceremony
A drone attack struck a packed graduating ceremony for military officers in the Syrian city of Homs, killing at least 80 people including civilians and military personnel and wounding dozens of others, Syrian state television reported. (ToI)