Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up DAMASCUS, Sept 17 (Reuters) – Israel carried out an airstrike on Syria’s Damascus international airport and other locations south of the capital, killing five soldiers and causing material damage, the defense ministry said early on Saturday. Syrian air defense intercepted the attack and managed to shoot down most of the missiles, the ministry said in a statement. There was no immediate confirmation whether the strike had affected airport operations. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Israel’s military said it did not comment on foreign reports. Israel has stepped up strikes on Syrian airfields to disrupt Iran’s growing use of aerial supply lines to deliver weapons to allies in Syria and Lebanon, including Hezbollah, regional diplomatic and intelligence sources told Reuters. Tehran has embraced air transport as a more reliable means of transporting military equipment to its forces and allied fighters in Syria, following disruptions to land transport. Hundreds of thousands of people have died and millions have been left homeless since protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2011 turned into a civil war that drew in foreign forces and left Syria carved into zones of control. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Reporting by Kinda Makieh and Enas Alashray and Nayera Abdallah. Moataz Mohamed writes. Editing by Chris Reese, Grant McCool and William Mallard Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
