Amman: Israeli planes bombed at least three major Syrian army air bases that housed dozens of helicopters and jets in the biggest such wave of strikes on air bases since Bashar al-Assad was toppled, two Syrian security sources said.
Qamishli airbase in north-east Syria, Shinshar base in the countryside of Homs and Aqrba airport south-west of the capital Damascus were all hit, the sources said.
Smoke rises in the aftermath of suspected IDF strikes near a Damascus air base on Sunday.Credit: Getty Images
Israel also waged several strikes on a research centre on the outskirts of Damascus and a centre for electronic warfare near the Sayeda Zainab area of the capital.
The United Nations says Israeli forces are occupying a demilitarised buffer zone between Israel and Syria in violation of a 1974 ceasefire agreement following the war in 1973.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday that UN peacekeepers confirmed “Israeli Defence Forces have entered the area of separation and have been moving within that area where they remain in at least three locations”.
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The UN Security Council plans to hold emergency closed consultations on Syria later on Monday at the request of Russia, which on Monday said it granted asylum to its longtime ally and ousted Syrian leader Assad.
Russian President Vladimir Putin personally decided to offer asylum to Assad, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Peskov wouldn’t comment on Assad’s specific whereabouts and said Putin wasn’t planning to meet with him.
Hundreds of Syrian refugees gathered at two border crossings in southern Turkey on Monday, eagerly anticipating their return home following the fall of Assad’s government.
