Syria Suspends Damascus Airport Flights after Israel Strike

Passengers wearing protective face masks arrive at the Damascus International airport in the Syrian capital on Oct. 1, 2020. LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images
Passengers wearing protective face masks arrive at the Damascus International airport in the Syrian capital on Oct. 1, 2020. LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images
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Syria Suspends Damascus Airport Flights after Israel Strike

Passengers wearing protective face masks arrive at the Damascus International airport in the Syrian capital on Oct. 1, 2020. LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images
Passengers wearing protective face masks arrive at the Damascus International airport in the Syrian capital on Oct. 1, 2020. LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images

Syria has suspended all flights to and from Damascus International Airport after an Israeli airstrike on Friday hit an area close to the facility, a pro-government newspaper reported.

Al-Watan said the strike left the runway damaged, without giving further details about the attack, The Associated Press said.

State news agency SANA confirmed that all flights have been suspended because “some technical equipment stopped functioning at the airport." It did not mention a strike.

The airport is located south of Damascus. Flightradar24 showed no flights in the vicinity of airport on Friday at noon.

The announcement came hours after Syria’s state media reported Israeli airstrikes on some military positions south of Damascus early Friday, wounding one person and causing material damage.

Israel has staged hundreds of strikes on targets in Syria over the years but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations. It says it targets bases of Iran-allied militias, such as Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group that has fighters deployed in Syria and fighting on the side of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government forces, and arms shipments believed to be bound for the militias.



France Declines to Comment on Algeria’s Anger over Recognition of Morocco’s Claim over Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
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France Declines to Comment on Algeria’s Anger over Recognition of Morocco’s Claim over Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)

Paris declined to comment on Algeria’s “strong condemnation” of the French government’s decision to recognize Morocco’s claim over the Sahara.

The office of the French Foreign Ministry refused to respond to an AFP request for a comment on the Algeria’s stance.

It did say that further comments could impact the trip Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is set to make to France in late September or early October.

The visit has been postponed on numerous occasions over disagreements between the two countries.

France had explicitly expressed its constant and clear support for the autonomy rule proposal over the Sahara during Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne’s visit to Morocco in February, reported AFP.

The position has helped improve ties between Rabat and Paris.

On Thursday, the Algerian Foreign Ministry expressed “great regret and strong denunciation" about the French government's decision to recognize an autonomy plan for the Western Sahara region "within Moroccan sovereignty”.

Algeria was informed of the decision by France in recent days, an Algerian foreign ministry statement added.

The ministry also said Algeria would draw all the consequences from the decision and hold the French government alone completely responsible.