Israel attacks Iranian airbase in Syria, claims Syrian media

Damascus: – Syrian media claimed that Israeli fighter jets attacked T-4 airbase, in the Homs city in Syria. This becomes the second attack carried out by Israel, in Syria, in the last three days. Earlier, 11 people had been killed in an Israeli attack on the military base, near the Syria capital of Damascus, on Monday. It was being said that General Ismail Ghani, the new commander of the Quds force, had been killed in the attack. The report created a sensation. But the Iranian sources informed that General Ghani was safe.

The Israeli fighter jets launched fierce missile attacks on the T-4 airbase, under Iranian control, in Syria. Syrian air defence systems successfully intercepted the attacks launched by the Israeli fighter jets on Wednesday night. The Syrian media claimed that these Israeli fighter jets entered through the US-controlled Al-Tanf region, near the Iraq border. Israel had accused that the concerned airport, known as T-4 or Tiyas was under the control of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Quds Forces. This base is used for supplying weapons to Hezbollah and for storing missiles and for drone deployments. Therefore, Israel launched an attack on this airbase. But Israel has not given any reaction to the claimed made by the Syrian media, in respect of the Wednesday attack.

Two days before this attack, 11 people had been killed in an airstrike near the Syrian capital of Damascus. The dead included two soldiers from the Syrian military and five members of an Iran affiliated group. It was also being said that General Ghani, the Chief of Quds Forces, considered to be the effective unit of the Iranian army, was killed in the attack. General Ghani had taken over as Chief of Quds Forces, after former Chief Qassem Soleimani was killed in an attack by the United States, in January. There was a talk of Iran receiving a major jolt with the killing of General Ghani within only a few months. But Iranian military sources dismissed these reports and said that General Ghani escaped the attack. At the same time, an Iranian newspaper threatened that Israel would have to pay dearly for these attacks on the Iranian interests in Syria.

Meanwhile, former Israeli defence chief, Gadi Eizenkot, had announced that Israel had carried out more than 1,000 attacks on the locations of Hezbollah, Iran and Iran affiliates, in Syria. At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had warned that Israel would launch attacks on Iran linked locations in Syria.