Israeli Missiles Hit Syrian Air Base: Used By Iran, Near Russian Troop Base

Illustration of Israeli fighter jets. (Wikimedia Commons/Amit Agronov/IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

JAKARTA - Israeli missiles hit the main air base in Syria's Homs Province on Sunday, killing two servicemen and wounding three, the Syrian military said via state news agency SANA.

Military sources said the air base at Shayrat, was recently used by the Iranian air force.

Syrian state media posted a short "aggression" video and said there was material damage, without elaborating.

One military source, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said the strike targeted the runway at the airbase located southeast of the city of Homs.

Asked about the attack, an Israeli military spokesman said it does not comment on foreign reports.

The runway and underground facilities at Shayrat, including an aircraft shelter, have undergone a major expansion by the Russian military in the last three years, military sources said.

Russia, which maintains a large military presence in Syria, has troops stationed near the Shayrat air base and is using the base, security sources said.

Regional and intelligence sources said Israel had in recent months intensified attacks on Syrian airports and airbases to disrupt Iran's increasing use of air supply lines to deliver weapons to allies in Syria and Lebanon, including the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a warehouse for Iranian and Hezbollah militias located inside the Shayrat air base was destroyed in Sunday's attack.

Opposition military sources say the Iranian militias hold sway in most of the western Homs Province near the Lebanese border, and in the east where they have a series of bases.

Iran, which has deployed thousands of Shiite militias to help Syrian President Bashar al Assad win the battle against the rebels, says its military presence in Syria is limited to a few advisers.

Israel has been increasing attacks in Syria for years against what it describes as Iranian troops and Iranian-backed groups deployed there during the war, which began more than a decade ago.