An Israeli airstrike on the western Syrian city of Masyaf on Thursday destroyed more than 1,000 Iranian-made missiles, a Syrian war monitor reported Saturday.
According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the attack targeted a missile warehouse in the city’s Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) complex that stored thousands of medium-range, surface-to-surface missiles assembled under the supervision of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s “expert officers.”
The observatory added that 14 Syrian civilians sustained injuries with varying levels of severity during the Masyaf airstrike, in addition to casualties reported among Iranian-backed militias guarding the research center– which is heavily damaged during the attack.
Moreover, several fires broke out in areas surrounding the city ignited by the shrapnel from the explosions of the warehouse, with nearby civilian houses and property suffering material damage, the report said. Secondary explosions continued for hours after the strikes, along with the blazes caused by them. Local residents were reportedly instructed to remain in shelters until the fires were brought under control.
In addition to the strikes attributed to Israel, the United States also engaged in a string of tit-for-tat attacks last week against Iranian militias in northern Syria who had targeted US forces with rockets and drones.
Iran-backed militias established a foothold in Syria while fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad during Syria's civil war.