Two members of the Syrian armed forces and three others were killed on Sunday by an Israeli missile strike on the Shayrat Airbase in Syria’s Homs Province, Syrian state media reported.
Citing a military source, Reuters reported that the strikes targeted “a runway in the sprawling air base,” noting that the base had recently been used by the Iranian air force.
According to The Alma Center, an Israeli research organization specializing in security challenges on Israel’s northern borders, one of the targets of the strike was a truck convoy carrying weapons for Hezbollah.
“It is not clear if the convoy was moving or parked in the area,” the Center tweeted on Monday.
The Shayrat airport is not normally used by the Iranian-led axis as an entry point to smuggle weapons via aircraft, the Center noted.
“At this point we are not aware of a plane landing in the field recently. It’s possible there was intent to land a plane and a pre-emptive attack on the runway was carried out,” it added.
The runway and facilities at Shayrat airbase, including hardened shelters designed to house planes, were expanded significantly by the Russian military over the past three years, according to Reuters. Moscow has stationed forces near the airbase, and uses it for its own military needs, the report added.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the situation on the ground in Syria, reported that a warehouse at the base used by Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias and Hezbollah was also destroyed in the attack.
