Syria blames Israel for 2 new air strikes, then denies they occurred

Were two Syrian military bases bombed on Monday night? With the Assad regime announcing a strike and then denying it occurred, it is unclear who, if anyone, was behind the strikes. 

By: World Israel News Staff

Syrian military sites were again the target of missile attacks when several rockets struck two sites on Monday night.

Arab media reported that the Shayrat air base, in Homs province, was struck by six missiles, while the Dumair military airport near Damascus was targeted by three missiles.

The Syrian army claimed it had intercepted several of the incoming explosive projectiles.

The reports did not comment on the extent of the damage caused by the attack or on casualties.

Elijah Magnier, a Lebanese reporter affiliated with the Hezbollah terror organization, claimed that Israeli jets fired at least three missiles at the Syrian air bases “while violating Lebanese airspace.”

A Syrian military official was quoted by the Al-Nashra news site as saying that Israel was behind the bombings, and that all the incoming missiles except one were intercepted.

The US denied involvement in the attack, with a Pentagon spokesman stating that there “is no US military activity in that area at this time.”

The IDF has remained silent on the reports, as has been its conduct in most previous, similar incidents.

Israel’s Ynet news estimates that the attack may have been carried out by local rebels, acting on orders from the US or an Arab country, possibly Saudi Arabia.

‘False alarm’?

Syria’s state run television later claimed that it was a false alarm, and not an airstrike, that set off Syrian air defenses.

The report quoted an unnamed military official as saying on Tuesday that air defenses fired a number of missiles because of a false alarm.

He claimed that that the malfunction was caused by a “joint electronic attack” by Israel and the US on Syria’s radar network.

These reported attacks occurred a day after an arms depot in Jabal Azzan in the Aleppo region, said to be one of the largest in the country, was reportedly attacked from the air, causing a massive explosion. Iranian soldiers were among the casualties in this attack, according to reports.

The reports also said that a second base near Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria and two other Assad regime military sites were also targeted at the same time.

On Saturday night, US, United Kingdom and French forces fired more than 100 missiles at sites connected to Syria’s chemical weapons program in response to Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons attack on Douma, near Damascus, a week ago which killed some 200 civilians.

These strikes came after the Syrian Tiyas Military Airbase, located in the Homs province, was struck by several missiles last Monday, leaving at least seven Iranian soldiers dead.

The Russian Defense Ministry blamed Israel for the attack. It said that two Israel Air Force (IAF) F-15 jets fired the missile at the Syrian airbase from Lebanese airspace.

The target of the air strike was apparently an Iranian drone base. In February, an Iranian drone flying out of the T4 base was shot down by Israel. The drone was found to be armed with missiles.

An anonymous Israeli army source was quoted in the New York Times Monday as stating that Israel did indeed attack a Syrian air base a week ago, but an official IDF  spokesperson shortly thereafter walked back the claim.

The T4 Air Airbase is home to Iranian forces, the Lebanese Hezbollah terror organization and Syrian regime forces.

Israel’s security forces are on high alert in anticipation of a possible revenge attack by Iran.