Russia Reveals Details About Israeli Raids Near Damascus Airport

Damascus Airport (Ashrq Al-Awsat)
Damascus Airport (Ashrq Al-Awsat)
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Russia Reveals Details About Israeli Raids Near Damascus Airport

Damascus Airport (Ashrq Al-Awsat)
Damascus Airport (Ashrq Al-Awsat)

Israel raided Damascus International Airport as the Syrian defenses downed seven of the eight missiles that were fired, according to the Russian Center for Reconciliation.

Deputy Head of the Center Rear Admiral Vadim Kolet said that four Israeli F-16 jets fired in December eight missiles from Golan airspace targeting the Damascus airport area.

Kolet said the Syrian air defenses shot seven of the missiles using Russian-made Pantsir-S systems. He confirmed that the Israeli airstrike caused damages to a warehouse and killed one person.

Also, a Syrian soldier was killed in an airstrike on Thursday, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

The agency quoted an unnamed military source saying that the Israeli enemy attacked the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting some points in the southern region, indicating that the air defenses shot down most of the missiles.

The Israeli army refused to comment on the news.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) indicated that Israel recently intensified its strikes in Syria. An attack on November 24 killed five people.

Meanwhile, the UK's Defense Ministry said that British fighter jets shot down a drone approaching al-Tanf base in Syria.

It is the first time the British army had shot down another enemy aircraft since the Falklands War nearly 40 years ago.

The Ministry of Defense said that the drone, which was downed on December 14, posed a threat to the coalition against ISIS in southern Syria.

The UK's Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said: "This strike is an impressive demonstration of the RAF's ability to take out hostile targets in the air that pose a threat to our forces."

"We continue to do everything we can alongside our coalition partners to stamp out the terrorist threat and protect our personnel and our partners."

Two RAF Typhoon FGR4s were patrolling over Syria and Iraq on Tuesday as part of the global coalition against ISIS and were ordered to investigate hostile drone activity near the al-Tanf military base.

The pilots identified a small hostile drone and shot it down using an advanced short-range air-to-air missile.

It was the first operational air-to-air engagement conducted by an RAF Typhoon and the first air-to-air missile firing during Operation Shader, targeting the remnants of ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

A spokesman for US Central Command, US Navy Capt Bill Urban, said two drones entered the al-Tanf garrison "deconfliction" zone on Tuesday. One of them was shot down as it moved closer to the base.

He indicated that there were no casualties or damage to facilities.



Strike Blamed on US Kills Four Iran-backed Fighters in Iraq

Iraqi security forces stand guard during a funerary procession for a slain member of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi, or the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) -- an alliance of factions now integrated into the regular army that also includes powerful Iran-backed groups -- who was killed in a US-Israeli air strike in Mosul the previous evening, in Baghdad on March 8, 2026. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)
Iraqi security forces stand guard during a funerary procession for a slain member of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi, or the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) -- an alliance of factions now integrated into the regular army that also includes powerful Iran-backed groups -- who was killed in a US-Israeli air strike in Mosul the previous evening, in Baghdad on March 8, 2026. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)
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Strike Blamed on US Kills Four Iran-backed Fighters in Iraq

Iraqi security forces stand guard during a funerary procession for a slain member of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi, or the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) -- an alliance of factions now integrated into the regular army that also includes powerful Iran-backed groups -- who was killed in a US-Israeli air strike in Mosul the previous evening, in Baghdad on March 8, 2026. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)
Iraqi security forces stand guard during a funerary procession for a slain member of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi, or the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) -- an alliance of factions now integrated into the regular army that also includes powerful Iran-backed groups -- who was killed in a US-Israeli air strike in Mosul the previous evening, in Baghdad on March 8, 2026. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)

Four fighters from the Tehran-backed Kataeb Imam Ali group were killed on Tuesday in air strikes blamed on the US in northern Iraq, the armed faction announced.

The group said its fighters were killed in an "American aggression" on their position in the Debs district in Kirkuk province, Reuters said.


Israeli Strikes Hit South and East Lebanon

A fireball rises from the site of an Israeli air strike in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut on March 9, 2026. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)
A fireball rises from the site of an Israeli air strike in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut on March 9, 2026. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)
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Israeli Strikes Hit South and East Lebanon

A fireball rises from the site of an Israeli air strike in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut on March 9, 2026. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)
A fireball rises from the site of an Israeli air strike in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut on March 9, 2026. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)

Israeli strikes hit southern and eastern Lebanon overnight, state media reported on Tuesday, as Israel targets Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.

"Enemy warplanes launched strikes overnight on the towns of Almajadel, Shaqra, and Srifa," the National News Agency (NNA) reported, adding strikes had also taken place in the Bekaa Valley.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

Lebanese authorities said on Monday that Israel's attacks since March 2 have killed at least 486 people and wounded at least 1,313.

AFP has not been able to carry out a detailed breakdown of the figures.

According to the government, more than 660,000 people have registered as displaced, with 120,000 sleeping at official shelters as of Monday.


Syria Accuses Hezbollah of Firing Shells into Its Territory

Syrian soldiers are deployed near the border with Lebanon. (Reuters)
Syrian soldiers are deployed near the border with Lebanon. (Reuters)
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Syria Accuses Hezbollah of Firing Shells into Its Territory

Syrian soldiers are deployed near the border with Lebanon. (Reuters)
Syrian soldiers are deployed near the border with Lebanon. (Reuters)

Syria said Iran-backed Hezbollah had fired artillery shells into its territory from Lebanon overnight, state media reported on Tuesday, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Lebanese movement.

Syrian army officials said artillery shells fired from Lebanon landed near the town of Serghaya, west of Damascus, the state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday.

The army accused Hezbollah of targeting Syrian army positions, telling the news agency it observed Hezbollah reinforcements at the Syrian-Lebanese border.

"The Syrian Arab Army will not tolerate any aggression targeting Syria," the army said in a statement to SANA.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei during US-Israeli strikes.

Hezbollah and Israeli forces have clashed in eastern Lebanon in recent days, and Israel has carried out strikes across Lebanon, including on the capital Beirut.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun accused Hezbollah of working to "collapse" the state, while the head of the group's parliamentary bloc said it had "no other option... than the option of resistance."

Hezbollah provided military support to former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, who was overthrown in December 2024 by a coalition hostile to the Iran-backed party.

Since then, its supply routes from Syria have been cut off, and Lebanese and Syrian authorities are trying to combat smuggling across the porous border between the two countries.