Israel Strikes Syria. S-300 Is Not Employed
Late on December 25, the Israeli Air
Force carried out a missile strike on targets in the Damascus
International Airport area. According to reports, Israeli F-16I jets
launched at least 16 missiles from Lebanese airspace.
The Syrian media stressed that the Air
Defense Forces (SADF) had intercepted most of the hostile missiles, but
acknowledged that at least 3 Syrian servicemen had been injured in the
incident. The SADF also fired several missiles at Israeli jets involved
in the strike. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that they had
employed their own air defense systems to protect the jets.
The Syrian side did not use the S-300
air defense system delivered by Russia to repel the airstrike. Syrian
personnel have not yet finished the necessary training. According to
experts, the Syrian S-300 system will be put on a combat duty in the
second half of January or in early February 2019.
The recent Israeli strike came a day
after the Russian Defense Ministry announced that 150 servicemen of one
of the surface to air-missile regiments of Russia’s Central Military
District had returned from Syria.
On December 25, Syrian Army soldiers,
backed up by Russian servicemen, entered the village of Arima west of
the town of Manbij, a stronghold of the so-called Syrian Democratic
Forces (SDF). Previously, Arima was controlled by the SDF. However, its
current status is unclear. Pro-SDF sources claim that the village will
be jointly controlled by the SDF and the Syrian Army. Pro-government
sources claim that the village was handed over to the government.
Local sources claim that this move is
the first stage of the implementation of a broader agreement, which may
son be reached between the Damascus government, Russia and the
Kurdish-dominated SDF.
Since the US decision to withdraw its
troops from Syria and the resumption of Turkish threats to launch a new
military operation against Kurdish armed groups in northern Syria, the
SDF has desperately been seeking a new protector from Ankara. The
Damascus government and Russia are one of the options considered by the
Kurdish leadership. Another option is to hope that the remaining US
personnel and French troops will be able to prevent a Turkish offensive
along the entire contact line between the SDF and the Turkish military.
Meanwhile, Ankara continued its military
build-up in Turkish regions bordering with northern Syria. Recently, a
batch of Leopard 2A4 battle tanks were reportedly sent to the area.
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