Beirut: Eleven people were killed and dozens injured when a pickup truck ran over a land mine near the city of Daraa in southern Syria, according to war monitors. “11 people were killed and about 34 were injured, including five children under the age of 16 and three women,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in the explosion, adding that some were in crisis. .. Most of the victims were wheat-harvesting workers, Syria’s official SANA news agency said.
According to the UK-based observatory, which relies on Syria’s extensive network of sources, the latest victims bring the total number of people killed by explosive debris to 124 since the beginning of 2022. Explosives left in fields, along roads, and everywhere in buildings during a decade of conflict in Syria injured thousands of civilians and killed hundreds. According to the United Nations, it is estimated that about half of the population lives in unexploded ordnance-contaminated areas across the country.
According to landmine monitors, in 2020 Syria overtook Afghanistan as the country with the highest number of casualties from landmines and explosive war debris, killing or injuring 2,729. According to the observatory, 241 civilians were killed and 128 were injured in 2021 by the remains of explosives throughout Syria. It is estimated that the Syrian war has killed nearly 500,000 people and expelled millions more since it began with a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011.
Great damage
Meanwhile, Syria has confirmed significant damage to the runway at Damascus International Airport, which was closed on Saturday for repairs after the Zionist airstrikes. The Ministry of Transport said in a statement that the runway was no longer available. Since the outbreak of the civil war in Syria in 2011, Zionists have carried out hundreds of airstrikes on neighboring countries, not only with government forces, but also with Iran’s support forces, an ally of Hezbollah, a Shi’a radical group in Lebanon. Targeting fighters.
However, such attacks rarely cause major flight obstacles. “Civil aviation and state-owned enterprises are working to repair the major damage to the airport,” the ministry said, and said the terminal building was also hit. The official SANA news agency said the Zionist bombing injured civilians. Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a pre-dawn missile attack on Friday struck one and three arsenals near the airport belonging to Hezbollah and other Iranian support groups.
The observatory, which relies on a network of sources within Syria, said the strike injured an uncertain number of people. Satellite images posted on Twitter by Zionist company ISI show three separate areas that were described as “extreme damage to both military and civilian runways” caused by the strike. According to the observatory, the damaged runway was the only runway still in operation after another Zionist strike made another runway unavailable.
Russian blame
According to the Observatory, a UK-based surveillance agency, the 2021 bombardment targeted the transport and arsenal of weapons operated by Iran-backed groups. The airport is located in the southern region of Damascus, where Iran-backed groups, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, are regularly active. Near the facility is a Zionist favorite target that has launched 15 aerial attacks on Syria this year alone and has regularly accused Iran of using Damascus Airport to send weapons to its allies.
Syrian state media reported that a missile volley was launched from the occupied Golan Heights around 4:20 am on Friday. Russia, a Syrian ally, has strongly condemned “a provocative Zionist attack on critical private infrastructure.” A spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called such an attack “an absolutely unacceptable violation of international norms.”
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdrahian spoke on the phone and condemned the attack, SANA reported. Syria “protects itself by all legitimate means” against Zionist attacks, Mekdad said. Zionists rarely comment on individual strikes, but they admit that they have carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria.
The conflict in Syria began with a brutal crackdown on peaceful protests and escalated to attract foreign forces and global jihadists. The war killed nearly 500,000 people and expelled about half of the country’s prewar population from their homes. Russia’s military intervention in 2015 helped change the war in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Moscow maintains a military base in the country. – AFP
