Aleppo airport in northern Syria out of service due to Israeli bombing: Official media

Aleppo International Airport in northern Syria was taken out of service on Monday due to an early morning Israeli airstrike, as reported by the official news agency "SANA," citing a military source.

The source stated, "At around 4:30 AM (1:30 AM GMT) today, the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial aggression from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea west of Latakia, targeting Aleppo International Airport." This attack resulted in "material damage to the airport's runway and rendered it inoperative."

In recent years, Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes in Syria, targeting Syrian army positions as well as Iranian-affiliated sites and those associated with Hezbollah, including weapons and ammunition depots in various regions. These Israeli strikes have previously disabled both Aleppo and Damascus international airports.

In early May, the airport and an adjacent military airbase suffered a similar strike, leading to the death of a soldier and injuries to seven individuals, including civilians. The attack caused the airport to be taken out of service, according to a Syrian military source cited by the official media at the time.

During March, the facility was disabled twice due to Israeli strikes, one of which resulted in three fatalities, including a Syrian officer, according to a toll reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

On March 22, Israel targeted a weapons depot belonging to Tehran-backed factions near the airport, resulting in its complete destruction, according to the observatory.

Israel rarely confirms its airstrikes in Syria, but it consistently asserts that it will continue to counter what it describes as Iran's attempts to establish a military presence in Syria.

Since 2011, Syria has been embroiled in a protracted conflict that has led to the deaths of over half a million people and inflicted massive destruction on infrastructure, causing the displacement of more than half the population both within and beyond the country's borders.



AFP