SyriaIsrael destroys advanced Syrian missiles on their way to Hezbollah
Israel Air Force (IAF) planes on Wednesday night attacked and destroyed two military bases in Syria – one near Damascus and the other in Snobar Jableh, thirty kilometers south of the port city of Latakia. The Syrian military was preparing two large shipments of surface-to-air missiles – advanced versions of the SA-8 Gecko and S-125 Neva/Pechora – for delivery to Hezbollah. The IAF destroyed the missiles before they were loaded onto truck for the trip to Lebanon. Wednesday’s night attacks were the sixth and seventh attacks Israel launched against Syrian shipments of advanced arms to Hezbollah. The earlier five attacks took place on 30 January, 3 May, 5 May, 5 July, and 18 October.
a Russian-built SA-8 mobile surface to air missile launcher // Source: wikipedia.org
Israel Air Force’s planes bombed and destroyed a Syrian military base near the port city of Latakia, where the Syrian army was preparing a large number of SA-8 Gecko surface-to-air missiles for shipment to Hezbollah.
The attack south of Latakia – on an army base in Snobar Jableh — took place during the night between Wednesday and Thursday, and was accompanied by a second attack on a Syrian military base near Damascus.
Reports from people in the area speak of a series of large explosions near the army base in Snobar Jableh on Wednesday night. Latakia, an important port city, is a stronghold of Assad’s Alawite sect.
Israel refused to comment on the attack or respond to the reports.
U.S. officials confirmed that Israel was behind the two attacks.
Haaretz reports that the target of the attacks were both advanced versions of SA-8 missiles and S-125 Neva/Pechora surface-to-air missiles.
The Israeli Channel 2 TV broadcast satellite images of the area which showed the Russian-made Neva missiles, as well as a SA-3 missile battery. The missiles have a range of 35 km. and a 70 kilogram warhead. The Channel 2 pictures also showed a command center with a radar to track the missiles’ targets and broadcasting antennas to track the missiles as they are launched.
Last week, Kuwait newspaper Al-Jarida reported that IAF warplanes destroyed a shipment of missiles that were to be delivered to Hezbollah near the Lebanese-Syrian frontier (see “Israel destroys another missile shipment from Syria to Hezbollah,” HSNW, 24 October 2013).
Wednesday’s night attacks were the sixth and seventh attacks Israel launched against Syrian shipments of advanced arms to Hezbollah. The earlier five attacks took place on 30 January, 3 May, 5 May, 5 July, and 18 October.
