Israel Attacks Airbase In Central Syria Known To House Russian Troops

Israel Attacks Airbase In Central Syria Known To House Russian Troops

BY TYLER DURDEN

Following late night explosions being reported in the central Syrian region of Homs, state media SANA has subsequently confirmed that an Israeli airstrike has wounded at least four soldiers and caused "material losses" at the Shayrat Airbase.

The Israeli attack came from the direction of northern Lebanon. It has become common for Israeli jets to use undefended Lebanese airspace from which to attack targets inside Syria. Images showing a series of large explosions have circulated on social media.

Shayrat Airbase has long been well-known also as a base of Russian troop operations over several years. It remains unknown if Russians were present at the base when it was struck late Thursday night. Some Israeli sources have said ammo storage depots were hit, or else 'Iranian assets' were targeted - as is the usual refrain after such operations.

The airfield is the same base bombed by then President Trump in April of 2017:

The US launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles from its warships in the eastern Mediterranean early Friday, taking aim at the Syrian airbase it believes houses the aircraft that carried out the attack.

But it’s not just Syria that uses the Shayrat airfield – Russia, its key ally, has forces based there too.

Al-Shayrat hit tonight by Israeli forces. The initial information about an air attack targeting the vicinity of Al-Shayrat Airport in the eastern countryside of Homs, central Syria, and air defenses intercepted a number of missiles.

Elsewhere in Syria, pro-Damascus Arab tribes in the east are seeking to drive out American occupying forces in the vicinity of Syria's oil and gas sites.

Syrian army troops shelled positions of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Thursday, responding to attacks from the Kurdish militia on its territory in the countryside of the eastern governorate of Deir Ezzor. 

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) shelled SDF positions in Al-Busayrah city and the towns of Al-Sabha, Bariha, Jadid Bakara, and Al-Dahla in Deir Ezzor’s eastern countryside, Al Mayadeen reported on Thursday. 

The SDF’s media center announced on August 8 that its militants targeted the Syrian army and allied forces in the Al-Zubari and Sa’lu villages of the Deir Ezzor countryside with artillery and mortar shells. 

In the evening hours of Thursday there have been unconfirmed reports of a fresh attack against American forces located at the Rumalyn Landing Zone in Northeastern Syria.

All of this is happening against the backdrop of continued fierce fighting between Hezbollah and Israel in southern Lebanon, a situation which threatens to escalate further...

Several Israeli Airstrikes just now on the Town of Hanaouay in the Tyre District of Southwestern Lebanon, with Fire and Smoke being seen from Miles by Residents.

Very likely, the Syria situation will continue to unravel rapidly in the event of a major clash between Israel and Iran (and its proxies). Some 1,000 US troops (and likely many more contractors) continue to occupy northeast Syria, and we could be witnessing the beginning of the end of the Pentagon's occupation of sovereign Syrian territory.