The official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported in the wee hours of Wednesday morning that the “Israeli enemy” carried out an air strike against an air defense unit close to Nabi Habeel.
Quoting a military source, SANA reported one person was killed and three more soldiers were injured, in addition to “material damage” caused by the “Israeli aggression” in the Damascus Countryside. According to the report, “the Syrian air defenses intercepted a number of the enemy’s missiles.”
Not mentioned by SANA was the fact that Syria was storing surface-to-air missiles (SAM) at the Al-Zabadani air base.
Military journalist Babak Taghvaee was more specific, adding that “large weapon caches of IRGC Quds Force & its proxies in Al-Zabadani neighborhood of Damascus, Syria” were targeted. Taghvaee, who writes for multiple news outlets, reported, “These weapons were planned to be sent to the Lebanon & Quneitra in order to be used by Hezbollah against Israel” on 3 January 2021 – the anniversary of the assassination of IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.
: Tonight, Air Force targeted large weapon caches of Quds Force & its proxies in Al-Zabadani neighborhood of , . These weapons were planned to be sent to the & in-order to be used by against on 03/01/2021 pic.twitter.com/2SD6zqBlcS
— Babak Taghvaee – The Air War (@TheAirWar)
He said in his report the attacks are aimed at eliminating the threat of an Iranian retaliatory attack on the anniversary of the assassination of IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.