Israeli raid shuts down Damascus airport, says Syrian military

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Two soldiers killed as Israeli raid puts Damascus International Airport out of service for the second time in less than a year.

Syria’s military says an Israeli air raid has killed at least two Syrian soldiers and put the country’s main international airport out of service.

The air raid, which targeted the Damascus International Airport and its surroundings, took place at around 2:00am on Monday (23:00 GMT), the military said in a statement carried by the official SANA news agency.

The attack resulted in the “death of two soldiers, the wounding of two others, some material losses” and put the airport out of service, the statement said.

There was no immediate comment from Israel.

The incident marked the second time that the Damascus International Airport was put out of service in less than a year.

On June 10, Israeli air raids that hit the airport caused significant damage to infrastructure and runways.

It reopened two weeks later after repairs.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.

Israel has acknowledged, however, that it targets bases of Iran-allied armed groups, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.