Israeli raid against Aleppo airport: aid for earthquake victims blocked
At two o'clock in the morning, an air strike from the Mediterranean, west of Latakia, hit Syria's second airport. A key centre for the delivery of basic necessities to the populations hit by the earthquake on 6 February, which caused 6,000 deaths and over 500,000 homeless. Damascus speaks of "enemy missiles", no comment from Israel.
Aleppo (AsiaNews) - An Israeli air attack in the early hours of today has hit and knocked out the international airport of Aleppo, one of the centres devastated by the earthquake on February 6 in Turkey and Syria, further hampering aid and relief operations for the population.
According to the official Sana news agency, which reports a military source in Damascus, the airport's runway is damaged "by enemy missiles" and is currently unusable. No comment, however, comes from the Israeli army that carried out the attack.
The Syrian air defence system reportedly intercepted some missiles coming from the Mediterranean, which left west of the coastal city of Latakia at 2am local time. Since last year, Israel has intensified its attacks on Syrian airports to prevent Tehran, an ally of Damascus, from supplying Syria and the pro-Iranian Lebanese movement Hezbollah with weapons and vehicles.
However, today's air raid comes against a very different backdrop than in the past, with Syria committed - like neighbouring Turkey - to bringing aid to a population battered by the earthquake and still struggling with war, Covid-19, poverty and health emergencies.
The Syrian Ministry of Defence says that 'it is no longer possible to receive planes with aid, at least until the damage [especially to the runway] is repaired'; the only positive note, the official statement concludes, is that there are no further casualties or injuries.
Aleppo airport has been used in the weeks following the earthquake as a reference point for the delivery of humanitarian aid, along with the reopening of border crossings with Turkey, including in the rebel- and jihadist-controlled northwestern province of Idlib.
Souleiman Khalil, an official at the Syrian Ministry of Transport, points out that the earthquake has killed almost 6,000 people in the country and that more than 80 aircraft loaded with aid have landed at Aleppo International Airport this month. "The main damage," he concludes, "is to the runway, which must be repaired" before the airport can be reopened to arrivals and departures.
Aleppo airport, the second largest in the country, was targeted by an Israeli attack last September, following which it was closed for three days. In recent years, Israel has conducted hundreds of air strikes in Syria, targeting positions and targets of the Damascus government, its Iranian ally, and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement present in the territory.
While not commenting on today's operation, the Jewish State has in the past claimed the legitimacy of these operations, stressing that they are aimed at preventing the establishment of Iranian installations - enemy number one in the region - near the border.
In the meantime, the estimation of the damage, also on a human level, caused by the earthquake continues: Unicef estimates state that more than 500,000 people have had to abandon their homes, many families are homeless and children are afraid to return for fear of new tremors.
The earthquake adds to an endless series of crises, so much so that Syria already had the largest number of internally displaced people in the world before 6 February (6.8 million people) and, among them, almost three million children. In total, 3.7 million children are affected by the earthquake in various ways.
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09/06/2021 10:11
