DAMASCUS/JERUSALEM, Jul 17 (NNN-SANA/MA’AN) – The Israeli regime, yesterday, bombed the Syrian military headquarters compound, in the capital, Damascus, wounding two people, according to Israeli and Syrian sources.
“A while ago, the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) struck the entrance of the Syrian military headquarters in Damascus,” an Israeli army spokesperson said, adding that, the military also carried out additional strikes in the area and “remains prepared for various scenarios.”
The spokesperson said, the attacks were conducted “in accordance with directives from the political echelon,” and that the IDF “continues to monitor developments and Syria’s actions against Druze civilians in southern Syria.”
Syria’s state-run Al-Ikhbariya TV channel reported that, two civilians were injured in what it described as an “Israeli aggression” in the heart of the capital.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said, the attack prompted heightened security measures and gunfire near the impact zone. Drone activity was also reported over the southern skies of Syria before the airstrikes.
The strike followed the collapse of a ceasefire, announced by the Syrian interim government with Druze armed groups in Sweida, which led to renewed deadly clashes.
Earlier yesterday, crafty Israeli Defence Minister, Israel Katz, warned Syrian military in Sweida that, Israel would escalate its strikes, if Syrian troops did not withdraw.
“The Zionist army will continue to attack Syrian forces until they withdraw from the area,” Katz, arrogantly said, “The Syrian army must leave the Druze in Sweida, and pull back its forces.”
In a later statement, the Israeli regime said, it was sending more troops to the border with Syria “in accordance with the situational assessment.”
Meanwhile, intense clashes broke out again in Sweida earlier in the day.
In a statement, the Syrian defence authorities said, “outlawed groups” resumed attacks on government forces inside Sweida, violating a ceasefire agreement reached on Tuesday, with local elders. In response, army units launched retaliatory strikes.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Israeli strikes continued to pound the Syrian forces’ positions yesterday, as part of Israel’s declared protection of the Druze in Sweida.
The total death toll from the clashes in the region since Sunday has now risen to at least 260, including 82 civilians from Sweida, according to the Britain-based war monitor.
On Tuesday, the Israeli regime launched a series of airstrikes targeting convoys of Syrian forces in and around the southern city of Sweida, killing and wounding several personnel and further escalating days of deadly clashes, involving Druze armed factions, Bedouin tribes, and Syrian interim government forces.
Recalcitrant Zionist Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday night that, Israel has “a commitment to preserve the south-western region of Syria as a demilitarised area, on the Zionist’s border … and an “obligation to safeguard the Druze locals.”– NNN-SANA/MA’AN
