U.S. official reveals Israel carried out attacks on Syria using American intelligence
Washington, January 14 (RHC)-- A senior U.S. intelligence official says recent airstrikes on eastern parts of Syria near the Iraqi border were carried out by Israel with intelligence provided by the United States.
Syria's official news agency SANA said the air assaults were carried out on the city of Dayr al-Zawr and the town of al-Bukamal, along the border with Iraq, in the early hours of Wednesday. SANA, citing a military source, said that Israel launched the air aggression, adding that officials were assessing if any damage or casualties were caused.
The U.S. official with knowledge of the attack, who requested anonymity, told the Associated Press that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had discussed the raid with Yossi Cohen, chief of Israel’s spy agency Mossad, at a public meeting in a Washington restaurant on Monday.
The official claimed the attack hit Iranian-linked targets, alleging the strikes targeted a series of warehouses used to store and stage Iranian weapons.
Israel has already claimed to have hit Iranian targets and positions in Syria. Iranian officials have vehemently refuted the allegations, stressing that such "lies" will not impede Tehran's advisory assistance to Damascus in its anti-terror fight.
Iran says its presence in the Arab country has always assumed an advisory form, never featuring deployment of servicemen or military units.
Meanwhile, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Israeli air force carried out more than 18 attacks against multiple targets in the area stretching from Dayr al-Zawr to the al-Bukamal desert. At least 57 people were killed and 37 others were also wounded in the raids, according to the Observatory.
The attacks came after Syria said last week that the country’s air defense systems responded to an Israeli air strike over southern Damascus, shooting down most of the projectiles. Syria’s missile defense systems have thwarted many of the Israeli attacks against its military targets.
The Israeli army has carried out air and missile raids on Syria since a foreign-backed war broke out in the Arab country in 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding and abetting the Takfiri terrorist groups that have wreaked havoc in the country.
Israel has been a main supporter of the terrorist groups fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Damascus has on numerous occasions condemned Israel’s continued attacks on Syria’s soil, calling on the United Nations Security Council to stop the recurrence of such aggression, which are in contravention of all international laws and regulations.
