‘Israeli’ Airstrikes against Syria Meant to Provoke Russian Response – Envoy

By Staff, Agencies

Russian Ambassador to Syria Alexander Efimov roundly denounced the Zionist regime’s airstrikes against various targets in Syria, arguing that the aerial assaults are aimed at “provoking” Moscow to react and respond to the incessant acts of aggression against the war-ravaged Arab country.

Efimov noted that the ‘Israeli’ strikes aim to “escalate tensions and allow the West to carry out military activities in Syria.”

The envoy’s remarks are one of the strongest Russian condemnations of ‘Israeli’ operations in Syria.

The Zionist military frequently targets military positions inside Syria but mostly keeps quiet about its attacks which many regard as a knee-jerk reaction to the Syrian government’s increasing success in confronting terrorism.

The Zionist regime has been a key supporter of terrorist groups that have opposed the government of President Bashar al-Assad since the foreign-backed militancy erupted in Syria in March 2011.

State-run SANA news agency, citing an unnamed military official, reported that ‘Israeli’ warplanes struck several sites near the capital Damascus at around 5 am local time on March 7, killing two people and causing material damage.

The official said most of the incoming missiles were intercepted by Syrian air defenses.

In the early hours of March 13, a dozen ballistic missiles fired by Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard [IRG] hit secret bases of the ‘Israeli’ Mossad spy agency in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, which is the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. The attack reportedly killed several ‘Israeli’ operatives.

In a statement issued later in the day, the IRG indicated that the operation was in response to a recent Israeli airstrike on the Syrian capital of Damascus, in which two IRG officers were martyred.

The IRG identified the two officers as colonels Ehsan Karbalaipour and Morteza Saeidnejad, warning that "‘Israel’ would pay for this crime."