The Syrian Army's missile defense systems destroyed seven Israeli missiles today. Buk and Pantsir missile defense systems intercepted them. Damascus International Airport was among the targets of the air strike. This was stated by the National Defense Management Center.
Our special correspondent in Syria, Aleksandr Bilibov, figured out why the Syrian missile defense systems went off.
This afternoon, the Israeli Air Force launched air strikes on Syrian territory from the Mediterranean Sea. They were four F-16 fighters, which launched seven guided missiles. The airport in Damascus was their target. It's an international airport, which has civilian airplanes leaving and arriving in the Syrian capital. That's why they had to use the Syrian missile defense system again, the Pantsir and the Buk in particular. They destroyed all seven of the Israeli missiles, and none of them hit their targets. The infrastructure of the airport wasn't damaged.
Another attack by the Israeli Air Force on Syria resulted in no victims or destruction. Let me remind you that a few disturbing pieces of news are coming from Syria today. Today, there was an explosion in Damascus, which the local authorities have already determined to be a terrorist attack. It happened on some loop road during morning rush hour on the first weekday — Sunday. Like in many countries of the Arab world, Sunday is the beginning of the work week in Syria. A car bomb exploded on a large highway that goes to downtown Damascus. We know that all of the access roads to the scene of the explosion are blocked. The preliminary report shows that this terrorist attack resulted in no victims, and they already managed to detain the terrorist who was involved in that incident.
On Saturday, another explosion took place in Afrin, which is in northern Syria and now under the control of Turkish troops and the armed opposition, the so-called the Free Syrian Army. Let me remind you that last March, the town of Afrin was, in fact, placed under the authority of Syria. Syrian soldiers are there now. In March, they conducted an operation against the Syrian Kurds. There were two explosions. They both took place not far from a bus station. One of them took place on a bus which was just departing and full of people. They reported on 10 killed and 18 injured in this incident which has already qualified as a terrorist attack. They managed to defuse another bomb, the third one. It didn't go off. For some reason, the terrorists failed to carry out their plan.
I should add that so far no terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the explosions which today took place in Syria so far.
