An Israeli IMI Delilah cruise missile under the wing of an Israeli Air Force F-16I Soufa Fighter. Picture taken at Kecskeméti Repülőnap 2010. By Wikimedia user (KGyST).
Israeli fighter jets launched four cruise missiles and 16 guided bombs during the August 25 attack on Syria, Major General Oleg Yegorov, deputy head of the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria, said on August 26.
The main target of the attack was a complex of the Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) near the town of Masyaf in the western countryside of Hama. The center is Syria’s main military research and development body. It is also involved in the manufacturing of advanced weapons, like precision-guided missiles.
“Four Israeli Air Force F-16 tactical fighter jets fired four cruise missiles and 16 guided aerial bombs toward targets at the SSRC in Masyaf from 7:16 pm to 7:30 pm on August 25 from the eastern Mediterranean,” Yegorov said at a news conference.
The military commander went on to reveal that Syrian Pantsir-S and S-75 air-defense systems managed to intercept two cruise missiles and seven guided bombs.
The attack inflicted heavy damage on the SSRC complex and led to a series of explosions and fires that wounded at least 14 civilians who live in nearby towns and villages. However, no military casualties were reported.
As usual, Israeli and Arab media attempted to justify the large-scale aerial attack by claiming that the target was a missile shipment for Iranian-backed forces. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights went as far as claiming that more than a thousand missiles were destroyed in the attack. There is no evidence to back any of these claims.
This was Israel’s third attack on Syria this month. On August 12, two Syrian civilians were wounded in an attack that targeted a military observation post in al-Quneitra. Later on August 14, three Syrian soldiers were killed and three others were wounded as a result of a series of strikes that hit two air defense bases in Damascus and Tartus.
