Military Airport Near Damascus Comes Under Attack

An area near a military airport west of the Syrian capital Damascus was attacked on Friday by unidentified missiles on drones.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the Mazzeh military airport was the target of what it described as a missile attack, though the responsible party remains undisclosed.

“Positions belonging to Lebanon’s Hezbollah and other pro-Iran groups are present” in the area, added the Britain-based group.

In a statement, the defense ministry confirmed that two drones breached Syrian airspace from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights around 2:10 pm local time.

“Air defense systems confronted them and they were shot down west of Damascus,” the statement added.

While neither the war monitor nor the defense ministry attributed responsibility for the incident, Israel has conducted numerous airstrikes on Syria since the onset of the civil war in 2011.

Israel typically refrains from openly acknowledging its strikes in Syria but has consistently articulated its commitment to thwarting Iran's efforts to expand its influence across the region.

The development occurs in the context of broader regional tensions, including recent military actions by the United States targeting over 85 locations in Iraq and Syria linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards and associated militias. The US airstrikes were executed in retaliation for a January attack in Jordan that claimed the lives of three US service members.

Furthermore, Israeli airstrikes in Syria since December have resulted in the deaths of several prominent figures within Iran's Revolutionary Guards, including a senior intelligence officer. The losses have reportedly prompted the withdrawal of some senior Iranian officers from Syria, as indicated by informed sources.