As fighting intensifies in Quneitra province, Syria confirms airstrikes on positions near Aleppo’s al-Nairab air base.
Syrian state media reported late Sunday that Israeli missiles targeted a Syrian military post in Aleppo province.
Syria’s state-run Syrian News Agency (SANA) quoted military sources as saying, “The Zionist enemies have repeatedly made desperate attempts to support the defeated terrorist groups in Deraa and Quneitra, and have attacked one of our military strongholds in northern Albania. “We are targeting one with rockets.” -Nairab Airport. ”
Government agencies said the attack caused only material damage, but the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that nine “pro-regime fighters” were killed.
The military base was used by Iran, a key ally of the Syrian government, the monitoring group added.
Israel has previously targeted dozens of suspected Iranian positions in Syria.
Iran is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and supports many armed groups, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, fighting in support of Assad.
Deraa evacuation
The attack came days after Syrian forces secured large parts of the southern province of Daraa.
Syrian government forces now control more than 84 percent of Daraa, the birthplace of the 2011 uprising against the al-Assad regime.
Activists told dpa news agency there are still about 2,000 rebel fighters inside rebel-held areas of Daraa city.
On Sunday, the first wave of armed fighters and their families left Dera’a and headed for the rebel-held northern province of Idlib, the Observatory said.
“Nine buses and two ambulances carrying 430 fighters and their families were moved from Dera’a to Idlib following a search operation,” the statement said.
Russian troops searched vehicles parked on a main thoroughfare connecting the city’s government-held north with the rebel-held south before leaving for Idlib just after noon.
“My heart hurts and is torn to shreds. May God reward us. What more can I say?” said Huzaifa Halawa, a 28-year-old rebel who was evacuated on Sunday. .
In the past, thousands of rebel fighters from other parts of Syria took refuge in Idlib under a Russian-brokered deal.
Seven years of conflict have left at least 350,000 people dead and millions displaced.
