By Suleiman Al-Khalidi
Israel launched three airstrikes on Sunday against a security compound and government research center in the Syrian capital that the Jewish state says was used by Iran to develop missiles, two security sources told Reuters regional.
The strikes caused significant damage to the main customs headquarters and buildings adjacent to military intelligence offices within the security compound, located in the Kafr Sousa neighborhood of Damascus, the sources said.
The research center was also damaged, they added, on condition of anonymity.
One of the sources said the strikes hit infrastructure used to store sensitive military data, equipment and guided missile parts.
Israeli officials have expressed concerns that banned chemical weapons and other munitions and missiles that Syria has kept could now fall into the hands of Islamist rebels who stormed Damascus on Sunday.
Earlier on Sunday, Israel struck at least seven targets in southwestern Syria, including the Khalkhala air base, north of the town of Suwayda, from which Syrian army troops withdrew last night, the sources said.
The Syrian army, they added, left behind large stockpiles of missiles, air defense batteries and munitions which were the targets of the strikes.
Strikes near the Mezzah military airport, southwest of the capital, hit other munitions depots.
Israel has carried out strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria for years, but has intensified these raids since the October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian Hamas on Israeli territory, which sparked the Gaza war.
(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; French version by Kate Entringer)
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