FILE PHOTO An Israeli F-16 fighter jet © Amir Cohen / Reuters
New satellite images and information revealed by the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed that the target of the December 16 Israeli airstrikes on Syria was Damascus International Airport.
Capella Space shared an image of the airport taken by a SAR [synthetic-aperture radar] satellite on December 17. The high quality image shows three impacts 600 meters apart on the airport’s southern runway.
Dubious curiosity satisfied, despite the runway at #Damascus Intl. Airport, #Syria currently under refurb and closed per NOTAM A0208/21, imagery courtesy of @capellaspace confirms three impacts 600m’s each apart, reportedly from an #Israel|I airstrike in the early hours yesterday pic.twitter.com/GQUftXOvVC
— Aurora Intel (@AuroraIntel) December 17, 2021
On the same day, Rear Admiral Vadim Kulit, deputy head of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation in Syria, revealed that the the Israeli airstrikes damaged a warehouse in Damascus International Airport.
“On December 16, from 1:51 to 1:59, four Israeli Air Force F-16 tactical fighters from the airspace over the Golan Heights struck with eight cruise missiles at targets near the Damascus International Airport,” the officer said at a briefing.
Kulit added that the Syrian Arab Air Defense Forces destroyed seven of the eight missiles fired by Israeli fighter jets using Pantsir-S systems.
Click to see full-size image.
This was the second Israeli attack on Syria in December. The first attack, which took place on December 7, targeted the Port of Lattakia.
Damascus International Airport was not likely the only target of the December 16 Israeli airstrikes on Syria. The airstrikes claimed the life of a Syrian service member, identified as Private Laith Youssef al-Barmawi, who was serving in the southern governorate of al-Suwayda, dozens of kilometers away from the airport.
