By Suleiman al-Khalidi
AMMAN (Reuters) – The Syrian army said on Monday that the country’s air defenses had thwarted an “Israeli attack” on the capital, Damascus, in the latest bombings on Iranian targets inside the country in the past two months.
The Israeli military, which has just launched a surprise air force combat exercise on the country’s northern border, said it had not “commented on foreign reports,” according to a spokesman.
Syrian state media did not provide details of what caused damage to the Israeli air force. Israeli military planes flew over the Golan Heights to hit a target on the edge of the capital, a military statement said, adding that most of the missiles fell, adding to the air defenses, without mentioning casualties.
“Our air defenses continue to repel Israeli missile strikes in the skies of the capital,” the Syrian army said in a statement.
The Syrian army’s defector said the bombings spread to a large military section in the town of Kiswa, about 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) south of the capital, where Iranian-backed forces are present.
Witnesses heard large explosions on the southern edge of Damascus, the area where the Iranian-backed military is sitting, residents said.
Israeli officials have admitted to carrying out attacks inside Syria with the aim of ending Tehran’s military presence in Syria.
Army chief of staff Aviv Kochvi said late last year that Israel’s missile strike had hit more than 500 targets in 2020, “slowing down Iran’s blockade of Syria.”
The army said Monday that during the surprise exercise, which will run through Wednesday, air traffic across the country will increase and explosions can be heard in northern Israel.
“The exercise mimics combat scenarios on the northern front, and will test all components of the Air Force’s main targets, including maintaining air superiority, securing the country’s skies, as well as attacking and gathering intelligence,” it said.
Western intelligence sources say Iran’s military influence in Syria has increased in recent years, prompting Israel to step up operations to prevent its arch-rival from establishing a large military foothold on its border.
Iran’s proxy military groups, led by Lebanon’s Hezbollah, now control large areas of eastern, southern and northwestern Syria, as well as some suburbs around Damascus. They also control the Lebanese-Syrian border areas.
Israel, which has staged some of its biggest strikes yet inside Syria in the past two months, has focused on the Syrian city of Al Bukamal, which controls a border post on the main Baghdad-Damascus highway.
The expanded military operation was part of a so-called “campaign within the war,” which, according to Israeli generals and regional intelligence sources, was explicitly approved by the United States.
Regional intelligence sources say the goal is to prevent Tehran from shifting the balance of power in Syria in its favor.
(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Additional reporting by Kinda Makih; Editing by Peter Connie, Jacqueline Wong and Gary Doyle)
