State media has reported a series of strikes on government targets in northern Syria but has not said who was responsible. The report comes weeks after the US, UK and France launched strikes against military bases.
An unverified screenshot from Twitter showed the reported explosionImage: Twitter
Advertisement
"Enemy missiles" hit several military outposts in northern Syria, state media reported early on Monday without identifying who had launched the attack.
SANA, Syria's state-run news agency, said the strikes hit bases in Hama and Aleppo provinces overnight. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, confirmed the attacks and said at least 26 pro-government fighters, most of them Iranians, had been killed in Hama. It said four Syrians were also killed.
Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said the Hama strike targeted a depot for surface-to-surface missiles at a base known as Brigade 47. "Given the nature of the target, it is likely to have been an Israeli strike," he said.
Israel's Intelligence Minister Israel Katz did not comment on the strikes, but said only that Israel "has made it unequivocally clear at all levels that it will not allow an Iranian front in Syria to be established."
Who's fighting in the Syria conflict?
Syria's civil war erupted out of the Arab Spring protests that swept much of the Middle East and North Africa in 2011. The conflict has since drawn in multiple warring factions from around the world.
Image: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images
War with no end
Syria has been engulfed in a devastating civil war since 2011 after Syrian President Bashar Assad lost control over large parts of the country to multiple revolutionary groups. The conflict has since drawn in foreign powers and brought misery and death to Syrians.
Image: picture alliance/abaca/A. Al-Bushy
The dictator
Syria's army, officially known as the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), is loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and is fighting to restore the president's rule over the entire country. The SAA has been fighting alongside a number of pro-Assad militias such as the National Defense Force and has cooperated with military advisors from Russia and Iran, which back Assad.
Turkey, which is also part of the US-led coalition against IS, has actively supported rebels opposed to Assad. It has a tense relationship with its American allies over US cooperation with Kurdish fighters, who Ankara says are linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighting in Turkey. Turkey has launched multiple military offensives targeting Kurdish militias.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/L. Pitarakis
The eastern guardian
The Kremlin has proven to be a powerful friend to Assad. Russian air power and ground troops officially joined the fight in September 2015 after years of supplying the Syrian army. Moscow has come under fire from the international community for the high number of civilian casualties during its airstrikes. However, Russia's intervention turned the tide in war in favor of Assad.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Tass/M. Metzel
The western allies
A US-led coalition of more than 50 countries, including Germany, began targeting IS and other terrorist targets with airstrikes in late 2014. The anti-IS coalition has dealt major setbacks to the militant group. The US has more than a thousand special forces in the country backing the Syrian Democratic Forces.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/A.Brandon
The rebels
The Free Syrian Army grew out of protests against the Assad regime that eventually turned violent. Along with other non-jihadist rebel groups, it seeks the ouster of President Assad and democratic elections. After suffering a number of defeats, many of its members defected to hardline militant groups. It garnered some support from the US and Turkey, but its strength has been greatly diminished.
Image: Reuters
The resistance
Fighting between Syrian Kurds and Islamists has become its own conflict. The US-led coalition against the "Islamic State" has backed the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias. The Kurdish YPG militia is the main component of the SDF. The Kurds have had a tacit understanding with Assad.
Image: Getty Images/A. Sik
The new jihadists
"Islamic State" (IS) took advantage of regional chaos to capture vast swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014. Seeking to establish its own "caliphate," IS has become infamous for its fundamentalist brand of Islam and its mass atrocities. IS is on the brink of defeat after the US and Russia led separate military campaigns against the militant group.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo
The old jihadists
IS is not the only terrorist group that has ravaged Syria. A number of jihadist militant groups are fighting in the conflict, warring against various rebel factions and the Assad regime. One of the main jihadist factions is Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, which controls most of Idlib province and has ties with al-Qaeda.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Nusra Front on Twitter
The Persian shadow
Iran has supported Syria, its only Arab ally, for decades. Eager to maintain its ally, Tehran has provided Damascus with strategic assistance, military training and ground troops when the conflict emerged in 2011. The Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah also supports the Assad regime, fighting alongside Iranian forces and paramilitary groups in the country.
Image: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images
10 images1 | 10
Citing "local sources," Iranian semi-official news agency ISNA said the attack killed 18 Iranians, including a commander. However, another semi-official news agency, Tasnim, denied all reports of Iranian casualties.
The Syrian government-owned Tishrin newspaper quoted what it called "sources on the ground" as saying that the missiles were fired from American-British bases in north Jordan.
The strikes came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talked to US President Donald Trump on the phone amid rising tensions between regional foes Iran and Israel.
Children of War: Life after Aleppo
12:00
This browser does not support the video element.
'Iran, Iran, Iran'
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday said the time when Iran's enemies can "hit and run" is over. He did not specifically refer to the latest attack in Syria.
"They know if they enter military conflict with Iran, they will be hit multiple times," he said.
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman had vowed on Sunday to maintain the right to strike targets in Syria.
"We have no intention to attack Russia or to interfere in domestic Syrian issues," Lieberman said at a conference, according to the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz.
"But if somebody thinks that it is possible to launch missiles or to attack Israel or even our aircraft, no doubt we will respond and we will respond very forcefully," Lieberman said, adding Israel had three problems: "Iran, Iran, Iran."
"Iran is trying to destabilize the whole region, not only in Israel," he said. "Look at what is happening in Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria."
Previous false alarm
Syrian state media reported on similar airstrikes on government bases in the Homs region and on the outskirts of Damascus in mid-April. The military later said no attack had taken place; a false alarm had set off air defense systems.
At the beginning of April, an airstrike against the government's T4 military air base in Homs killed at least seven Syrians and seven Iranians. Syria and Iran, a close ally, accused Israel of carrying out the attack. Israel has not confirmed or denied responsibility.
