Syria: air raids blamed on Israel

Damascus accuses Israel of carrying out raids overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday in the Latakia region, the family stronghold of President Bashar al-Assad.

After the High Constitutional Court in Syria validated on Monday the candidacy for a fourth term of President Bashar al-Assad, who should undoubtedly win against two competitors, a former minister and a member of the opposition tolerated by the government .

Of the 51 candidates for the May 26 presidential election, only these three were successful. The other candidates can appeal the decision to the High Constitutional Court, which is due to announce the final list of candidates on May 10.

55-year-old Bashar al-Assad came to power in 2000 after the death of his father Hafez al-Assad, himself in charge of Syria for three decades.

Shortly after 2 a.m. on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, “the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial assault from southwestern Latakia, targeting positions in the coastal zone,” a military source quoted by the agency said. Syrian state Sana, without specifying the nature of these targets.

Syria on Wednesday reported Israeli air raids on targets in Latakia province that killed a civilian in the warring northwestern region.

Since the start of the war in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syrian territory, targeting in particular positions of Iranian forces and the Lebanese movement of Hezbollah, great allies of the Damascus regime.

Syrian air defense has been activated to counter Israeli “missiles”, and “some have been shot down”. “The Israeli assault resulted in the death of a civilian and wounded six, including a child and its mother,” the source said, also reporting material damage at a plastics manufacturing site.

Israeli attacks in the Latakia region, the family stronghold of President Bashar al-Assad, are rare. In September 2018, activated to counter Israeli missiles in this province, the Syrian air defense had mistakenly shot down a plane of its Russian ally, killing the soldiers on board.

Israel regularly declares that it will not allow Syria to become the bridgehead for Iranian forces.

Launched in March 2011 by the repression of pro-democracy protests, the war in Syria has become more complex over the years with the involvement of foreign powers and an increase in the number of belligerents. It has claimed more than 388,000 lives and displaced millions of people.

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Gabriel MIHAI

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