It’s being widely reported this morning that Israel was the one who carried out a big attack last night on an airbase near Homs, Syria, that left at least 14 iranians dead. And if the reports are true, they used Lebanese airspace to launch the attacks:
DAILY MAIL – Missile strikes on a Syrian air base have left 14 dead hours after Donald Trump warned ‘animal’ dictator Bashar al-Assad there would be a ‘big price to pay’ for a horrifying chemical attack that killed dozens of children.
Russia has blamed Israel for the strike on the T-4 military base in Homs province, calling the raid a ‘very dangerous development’ – but the country has refused to comment on its possible involvement.
Moscow said two Israeli F-15 fighters launched the attack while flying over neighbouring Lebanon, targeting the base with eight missiles – five of which were shot down. The aircraft did not enter Syrian airspace, it said, while local reports claimed the rockets crossed Lebanese airspace over Keserwan and Bekaa districts.
Two US officials have told NBC News that Israel carried out the strikes and that Washington had been informed in advance of the raid, which is understood to have killed a number of Iranian fighters loyal to Assad.
It followed a suspected poison gas attack on Saturday on the last remaining foothold for the Syrian opposition in the eastern suburbs of Damascus. At least 40 were killed while horrific images showed men, women and children gasping for air and foaming at the mouth and medics said survivors smelled strongly of chlorine.
Syria’s state-run news agency SANA said this morning’s airbase attack was ‘Israeli aggression’ having earlier pointed the finger at the US.
Israel has so far refused to comment but it carried out strikes against a Syrian government base in the country’s centre in February, with war monitors identifying it at the time as T-4.
Using Lebanese air space…
The Lebanese army says four Israeli warplanes violated Lebanon’s air space, flying from the Mediterranean Sea over the coastal town of Jounieh and then heading east, toward the city of Baalbek near the Syrian border.
A statement from the Lebanese Armed Forces says the warplanes stayed in Lebanese airspace for about 10 minutes, starting at 3.25am on Monday before leaving it.
But it did not say whether the warplanes carried out the airstrikes on Syria’s T4 air base earlier in the day in central Syria.
This isn’t the first time this year they’ve struck the T4 airbase:
Since 2012, Israel has struck inside Syria some 100 times, hitting suspected weapons’ convoys destined for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which has been fighting alongside Syrian government forces.
Most recently, Israel hit the same T4 base in February, after it said an Iranian drone that had violated Israeli airspace took off from the base. An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment on this morning’s raid.
I was getting reports before I went to bed last night that Syria was blaming the US for the attack. But the Pentagon was quick to deny that it had occurred.
So the only question I have now: is this what Trump meant when he suggested Syria would pay a big price for the chemical weapons attack, or will there actually be an attack still to come from the US?
UPDATE:
Perhaps my question was just answered…
JUST IN: U.S. Defense Secretary Mattis says he doesn't rule out military action against Syria after reports of chemical weapons use pic.twitter.com/6J9HaQcDXZ
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) April 9, 2018