According to an Israeli online outlet, Alma, Syria’s Aleppo International Airport and Nairab Military Airport, both in Assad-controlled Aleppo were subject to airstrikes early Tuesday morning due to the presence of “advanced Iranian weapons” at the locations.
Alma quotes an Israeli intelligence report as indicating that Iranians transferred large caches of weapons, including weaponized military drones, from al-Jarrah Military Airport in the Manbij countryside to Nairab. “We recently received an important indication from the field, which led to launching the attack [Tuesday morning] on Aleppo International Airport,” the report read.
The document also noted that Iran is using the pretext of humanitarian aid and a large amount of air and ground traffic, following last month’s earthquakes as a means of obfuscating their weapons transfers and increasing them. Pointing out that the weapons were moved in vehicles designed to resemble refrigerated trucks used for carrying food in attempts to hide their presence.
Since the quakes, Iranian weapons smuggling has expanded from the previous overland route through the al-Bukamal crossing in eastern Syria to include air routes to Aleppo. In the wake of the series of devastating earthquakes which struck southern Turkey and northern Syria Israeli reconnaissance planes have maintained an active presence in Syrian skies and Israel expresses ongoing concern over the presence of Iranian paramilitary factions and weapons in neighboring Syria.
