Syria suspends Damascus airport flights after Israel strike

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria has suspended all flights to and from Damascus International Airport after an Israeli airstrike on Friday hit an area close to the facility, a pro-government newspaper reported.

Al-Watan said the strike left the runway damaged, without giving further details about the attack.

State news agency SANA confirmed that all flights have been suspended because “some technical equipment stopped functioning at the airport.” It did not mention a strike.

The airport is located south of Damascus. Flightradar24 showed no flights in the vicinity of airport on Friday at noon.

The announcement came hours after Syria’s state media reported Israeli airstrikes on some military positions south of Damascus early Friday, wounding one person and causing material damage.

Israel has staged hundreds of strikes on targets in Syria over the years but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations. It says it targets bases of Iran-allied militias, such as Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group that has fighters deployed in Syria and fighting on the side of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government forces, and arms shipments believed to be bound for the militias.

source: yahoo.com