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ConflictsSyria

Israeli airstrike hits Latakia: Syrian state media

December 28, 2021

It is the second reported attack by Israeli airtstikes targeting the port city this month. Syrian media said the missile caused "significant material damage."

https://p.dw.com/p/44tAO
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows flames rising from the scene of a missile attack, at the seaport of the coastal city of Latakia
A photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, showing flames rising from the scene of a missile attack on December 7Image: SANA/AP/picture alliance

An Israeli air strike hit the Syrian port city of Latakia early Tuesday, according to Syrian state media.

This is the second reported Israeli air strike to hit Latakia this month. On December 7, Syrian state media said an Israeli strike had hit a goods yard, setting fire to containers and leaving no casualties.

What damage did the strike cause?

"At around 03:21 AM, the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial aggression with several missiles from the direction of the Mediterranean... targeting the container yard in Latakia port," Syrian state news agency SANA cited a military source as saying.

According to SANA, the strikes resulted "significant material damage."

SANA reported that fires had erupted in the port's container storage area.

Syria's state-run Al-Ikhbariyah TV reported damage to a hospital, some residential buildings and shops following the attack. 

An unidentified Syrian official was quoted by SANA as saying that firefighters had been working to extinguish the flames for nearly an hour after the attack.

There were no immediate reports of casualties. 

General view of containers and buildings in Latakia
Latakia serves as a vital facility for Syria as it handles most imports for the war-torn countryImage: Mikhail Voskresenskiy/Sputnik/dpa/picture alliance

Israeli strikes on Syria

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitoring group, had confirmed the December 7 strikes. It added at the time that the strikes targeted an air defense site.

There has been no comment from the Israeli military, which rarely discusses its operations targeting Syrian territory.

Israel has previously acknowledged that it targets the bases of Iran-allied militias, such as the Shiite militia Hezbollah.

Some of the strikes in the past had targeted the main airport in the Syrian capital of Damascus.

Smoke rising following an Israeli missile attack in Damascus
Israeli strikes have also targeted positions in the Syrian capital DamascusImage: Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua/picture alliance

Since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on Syrian territory.

Syria and Israel have been embroiled in a territorial dispute over the Golan Heights since 1967, and Israel is a major opponent of Syrian ally Iran's nuclear program.

Late last week, Iran conducted military drills in which it fired missiles in a "warning"  to Israel.

sdi/fb (AFP, dpa, Reuters)