Syria repels Israeli air 'aggression' in Aleppo province: report

Syrian anti-missile systems downed a number of targets during what it described as an Israeli air attack, state-owned SANA reported.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

28 March, 2019

The missiles were intercepted by Syrian air defence [File Photo: Anadolu]

Syria said that Israel had attacked targets just north of the city of Aleppo and that its defences had shot down several missiles.

"Army air defences repels an Israeli air aggression that targeted a number of industrial sites in Sheikh Najjar industrial zone, north-east of Aleppo, and downed a number of the hostile missiles," the official SANA news agency said, citing an unnamed military source.

A number of residents of Aleppo city told AFP that the attack led to a power cut in the whole city.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Israeli bombardment hit "ammunition stores belonging to Iranian forces and allied groups, and caused huge explosions."

Earlier this year in January, Israel targeted a number of Iranian installations in the country, hours after intercepting a rocket fired from Syrian territory.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 21 people, mostly Iranians, were killed in those attacks.

Israel insists that it has the right to continue to target positions in Syria held by Iran and its Lebanese ally Hizballah.

In May 2018, Israeli strikes killed 27 pro-regime fighters including 11 Iranians in strikes on dozens of Iranian targets inside Syria.

Thursday's airstrikes in Aleppo came after increased tension between Israel and Syria after US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Monday stating it recognises Israel's annexation of occupied Syrian land, something considered illegal under international law.

The Syrian mission to the UN asked the council presidency, held by France, to schedule an urgent meeting to "discuss the situation in the occupied Syrian Golan and the recent flagrant violation of the relevant Security Council's resolution by a permanent member-state", according a letter seen by AFP.

Israel seized the strategically-important Golan Heights in the 1967 war with Syria, and effectively illegally annexed it in 1981.

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