N.nizah – Pesawat pejuang Israel melanda pangkalan pertahanan udara Syria berham-piran bandar pelabuhan Latakia pada hari Khamis, pegawai Amerika Syarikat telah mengesahkan kepada media.
Seorang pegawai pentadbiran Obama memberitahu AP bahawa serangan itu berlaku dalam sekelip mata pada hari Khamis, tetapi dengan syarat tidak ada butiran. Seorang lagi pegawai keselamatan memberitahu agensi berita bahawa ia berlaku di bandar pelabuhan Syria Latakia, dan sasaran adalah peluru berpandu buatan Russia SA -125.
Seorang lagi pegawai Amerika Syarikat memberitahu CNN bahawa Israel percaya asas berhampiran Snobar Jableh, selatan Latakia, mempunyai peralatan peluru berpandu sensitif dan canggih yang mungkin telah dipindahkan ke kumpulan militan Lubnan Syiah Hizbullah.
Terdahulu, penyiar Dubai berasaskan al-Arabiya melaporkan 2 serangan yang dijalankan oleh Tentera Udara Israel - satu di Latakia dan satu lagi di Damsyik. Baik kerajaan Syria juga Israel telah mengulas mengenai serangan yang didakwa.
Seorang jurucakap Kementerian Pertahanan Israel enggan bercakap mengenai perkara itu. “Kami tidak mengulas mengenai laporan ini,” katanya kepada Reuters. Walau bagaimanapun, pegawai Israel bercakap tanpa nama kepada agensi berita berkata, beliau cenderung untuk mempercayai bahawa Israel telah menjalankan serangan, walaupun dia tidak sepenuhnya tertentu.
Tentera Lubnan berkata ia diperhatikan 6 jet terbang Israel ke atas wilayah Lubnan pada Rabu, Reuters melaporkan. Jet Israel sering terbang ke atas Lebanon, tetapi bilangan yang tinggi mempunyai pada masa lalu menjadi tanda serangan ketenteraan terhadap Syria.
Terdahulu hari ini, Balai Cerap Syria bagi Hak Asasi Manusia (SOHR) berkata terdapat satu siri letupan di pangkalan pertahanan udara Syria di wilayah pantai Mediterranean Latakia.
“Beberapa letupan kedengaran di pangkalan pertahanan udara di kawasan Jableh Snubar,” kata Pengarah SOHR Rami Abdel Rahman, sambil menambah bahawa sebab bagi letupan itu masih “tidak jelas.”
Tiada kecederaan dilaporkan.
A-Latakia, B-Damascus (Google Map – think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)
Israeli planes strike
Syrian military base - US Official
Confirms to media . . .
Israeli warplanes struck a Syrian air defense base near the port city of Latakia on Thursday, US official have confirmed to media.
An Obama administration official told AP that the attack happened overnight on Thursday, but provided no details. Another security official told the news agency that it took place in the Syrian port city of Latakia, and that the targets were Russian-made SA-125 missiles.
Another US official told CNN that the Israelis believed the base near Snobar Jableh, south of Latakia, had sensitive and sophisticated missile equipment that may have been transferred to the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah.
Earlier, Dubai-based broadcaster al-Arabiya reported two attacks carried out by the Israeli Air Forces – one in Latakia and the other one in Damascus. Neither the Syrian nor Israeli governments have commented on the alleged attacks.
A spokesman for the Israeli Defense Ministry declined to speak on the matter. "We're not commenting on these reports," he told Reuters. However, an Israeli official speaking anonymously to the news agency said he was inclined to believe that Israel had carried out a strike, although he was not entirely certain.
The Lebanese military said it observed six Israeli jets flying over Lebanese territory on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Israeli jets frequently fly over Lebanon, but such high numbers have in the past been an indication of a military strike against Syria.
Earlier in the day, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said there was a series of explosions at a Syrian air defense base in the Mediterranean coastal province of Latakia.
"Several explosions were heard in an air defense base in the Snubar Jableh area," SOHR director Rami Abdel Rahman said, adding that the reason for the blasts remains “unclear.”
No casualties have been reported.
Tentera Israel menyediakan tank mereka semasa latihan tentera berhampiran sempadan utara dengan Syria pada Israel-dilampirkan Golan Heights di 02 Oktober, 2013. (Israeli soldiers prepare their tanks during a military exercise near the northern border with Syria in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on October 02, 2013. (AFP Photo/Jack Guez – think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)
Sementara itu, sumber keselamatan Syria berkata bahawa “roket jatuh berhampiran asas, menyebabkan api keluar,” lapor AFP.
Walau bagaimanapun, sumber RT Bahasa Arab dalam masa pasukan keselamatan Syria telah menafikan laporan media.
Ammar al-Asad, ketua jawatankuasa hal ehwal luar negeri dalam Majlis Kebangsaan Syria, berkata dalam satu temu bual dengan RT bahawa “Di Latakia, kami tidak mendengar apa-apa bunyi, kejadian, atau apa-apa yang boleh membuktikan serangan itu berlaku.”
Terdapat 5 kes sebelumnya di mana Israel dipercayai telah melanda di dalam Syria. Yang pertama daripada mereka yang berlaku pada bulan Januari. Semua serangan dalam yang dikatakan, alasan yang diberikan adalah bahawa Israel bimbang bahawa senjata telah membuat cara mereka ke tangan Hizbullah. Tetapi ramai pengkritik berkata bahawa ia adalah hanya alasan untuk serangan langsung yang terang-terangan di dalam Syria, RT ini Paula Slier dijelaskan.
Pada masa lalu, Damsyik telah mengancam untuk bertindak balas terhadap serangan kuat seperti itu.
Meanwhile, a Syrian security source said that "a rocket fell near the base, causing a fire to break out," AFP reported.
However, RT Arabic’s source within the Syrian security forces has denied the media reports.
Ammar al-Asad, head of the foreign affairs committee within the Syrian National Council, said in an interview with RT that "In Latakia, we did not hear any sounds, incidents, or anything that can prove the attack happened."
There have been five previous incidents in which Israel is believed to have struck inside Syria. The first of those took place in January. In all of the alleged attacks, the reason given was that Israel feared that weapons were making their way into the hands of Hezbollah. But many critics said that it was just an excuse for a blatant direct attack inside Syria, RT’s Paula Slier explained.
In the past, Damascus has threatened to strongly retaliate against such attacks.
