New Israel strikes put Aleppo airport out of service: Syria state media
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Israeli strikes hit Syria's Aleppo airport on Tuesday put the facility out of service.
DAMASCUS (AFP) - Israeli strikes hit Syria s Aleppo airport on Tuesday evening, damaging the runway and putting the facility out of service, the official SANA news agency said.
It is the second reported Israeli strike on the airport in northern Syria in less than a week.
"At around 8:16 pm (1716 GMT), the Israeli enemy fired missiles from the Mediterranean Sea... targeting Aleppo International Airport, damaging the runway and rendering it out of service," it said.
SANA said earlier that Syrian air defences had intercepted some missiles, and reported material damage.
Syria s private airline Cham Wings announced that all flights to and from Aleppo would be routed to the capital Damascus due to the strikes.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said several explosions were heard near Aleppo airport, "resulting from Israeli strikes on warehouses of Iran-affiliated militias".
The monitor, which has a vast network of sources on the ground in Syria, said at least two missiles destroyed the depots, causing a fire and "heavy material damage".
On Wednesday last week, SANA said Israeli strikes hit Aleppo airport, causing "some material damage".
Since civil war erupted in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes against its northern neighbour, targeting government troops as well as allied Iran-backed forces and Hezbollah fighters.
While Israel rarely comments on individual strikes, it has acknowledged carrying out hundreds of them.
The Israeli military has defended such action as necessary to prevent arch-enemy Iran from gaining a foothold on its doorstep.
