Israeli warplanes struck Hezbollah facilities in and around the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, killing at least 36 government soldiers in the early hours of Friday, a UK-based human rights group said. It was announced that. File photo: Omar Haj Kadour/UPI
March 29 (UPI) — At least 36 government soldiers were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting Hezbollah facilities in and around the northern Syrian city of Aleppo in the early hours of Friday, according to local human rights groups.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a news release that “regime soldiers” were killed and “dozens” injured after fighter jets attacked a Hezbollah weapons warehouse and an air defense unit in Al near the city's international airport. He was reported to have suffered some serious injuries. – Safera, 13 miles southeast.
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The explosion sent ambulances and fire trucks to the scene.
The UK-based SOHR said activists in the region also reported hearing explosions in the Kafr Djoum area of western Aleppo, but that the airport was spared, and the group said this was a result of the Syrian It was said to be the deadliest single Israeli attack on the territory.
Syria's Ministry of Defense in Damascus said airstrikes and drone strikes by “terrorist organizations” killed Syrian military personnel as well as civilians, without providing details.
Israel has stepped up attacks against Hezbollah and Iranian targets in Syria for years in an effort to prevent the Lebanon-based group from building up its military and preventing it from obtaining advanced weapons from Tehran, but Hezbollah They have stepped up their attacks since October 7, when they began their operations. Fired rockets across the border into Israel in support of Hamas.
Iran and Hezbollah are allies of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and operate in Syria with Damascus' blessing.
Since the end of the South Lebanon War more than two decades ago, Israeli settlements near the northern border with Lebanon have been the target of intermittent rocket attacks by Hezbollah, but cross-border skirmishes between Hezbollah and Israel have 16 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes. Wednesday people.
The causal death toll, including Hezbollah fighters and other militants, is the highest in any attack in Lebanon since Hezbollah launched its latest military operation in response to Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. It became.