Missile attacks reported at Syrian Military facilities

Missile attacks were reported at two of Syria’s military facilities on the night of April 29. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the the attacks on facilities in the Hama and Aleppo provinces. There is no clarity on the number of deaths, but reports suggest that a military ammunition dump was hit leading in Homs to a massive fire. The attacks, according to Syria’s official SANA media, took place at 10.30 pm.

The munition dump in the Homs province belonged to the 47th Brigade of the Syrian army. The strike in Aleppo too is believed to have hit a munitions depot.

The strikes come at a time when a deal has been reached between the Syrian government  and opposition rebels to evacuate the latter and their families from areas re-captured by the government to Idlib province. Also, on April 28, the Syrian army is reported to have liberated areas in southern Damascus from Islamic State militants.  

On April, Israeli fighter jets had targeted Syria’s T-4 base in Holms. While five of the eight missiles were shot down, the remaining led to the deaths of at least seven Iranian advisors. Israel has refused to confirm or deny its involvement in the recent attack.

The attack follows the joint missile attack on Syrian military and civil facilities by the United States, the UK and France on April 14 in response to what they claimed was a chemical attack on rebel-held areas in Douma. The Syrian government said one of the targets - the Barzah research facility- was attacked despite the OPCW, the international chemical watchdog, concluding that it was not a chemical production facility  An OPCW probe is still on to verify the nature and origin of the Douma attack, which Russia and Syria have termed as a false flag.