Military sources said the airbase, at Shayrat, was recently used by the Iranian air force. Syrian state media released a short video of the “aggression” and said there was material damage, without giving further details. A military source, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said the strikes targeted a runway at the sprawling air base southeast of the city of Homs. Asked about the strike, an Israeli military spokesman said it did not comment on foreign reports. The runway and underground facilities at Shayrat, including aircraft shelters, have undergone significant expansion by the Russian military over the past three years, the military source said. Russia, which maintains a significant military presence in Syria, has forces stationed near Sayrat Air Base and uses the base, security sources say. Regional and intelligence sources say Israel has stepped up strikes on Syrian airports and air bases in recent months to disrupt Iran’s growing use of aerial supply lines to deliver weapons to allies in Syria and Lebanon, including its Hezbollah. Lebanon supported by Iran. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors such events, said a warehouse for Iranian militias and Hezbollah located inside the Sayrat air base was destroyed in Sunday’s strike. Opposition military sources say Iranian militias dominate large areas of western Homs province near the border with Lebanon and to the east, where they have a number of bases. Iran, which has sent thousands of its Shiite militias to help Syrian President Bashar al-Assad win his battle against rebels, says its military presence in Syria is limited to a limited number of advisers. Israel has been waging attacks in Syria for years against what it has described as Iranian-backed forces and Iranian-backed forces deployed there during the war, which began more than a decade ago. Reporting by Yasmin Hussein, Ahmed Tolba in Cairo, Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem and Suleiman al-Khalidi Editing by Gareth Jones and Susan Fenton Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
