An alleged Israeli airstrike that struck Damascus International Airport caused "significant" damage to infrastructure and rendered the main runway unserviceable until further notice, Syria said Saturday.
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The statement by Syria's Transportation Ministry was the first detailing the extent of damage from Friday's airstrike. Syrian media reported earlier that Syria suspended all flights to and from the airport and the ministry confirmed all flights were suspended because "some technical equipment stopped functioning at the airport."
Saturday's statement said the runway had been damaged "in several locations" and that the strike also hit the airport's second terminal building.
"As a result of these damages, incoming and outgoing flights through the airport were suspended until further notice," it said.
Cham Wings Airline, a private Syrian carrier, said it was rerouting all its flights to Aleppo International Airport.
The airport is located south of the capital Damascus where Syrian opposition activists say Iran-backed militiamen are active and have arms depots.
This was the first time an airstrike caused damage leading to the suspension of flights at the airport.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the Friday morning strike hit three arms depots for Iran-backed militiamen inside the airport, adding that the northern runway at the facility was damaged, as was the observation tower.
The Observatory added that the northern runway was the only one functioning after alleged Israeli strikes last year badly damaged the other runway, known as the southern runway.
A Syrian military official quoted by the state news agency SANA said Syrian air defenses intercepted the Israeli missiles, downing most of them, but that the early morning attack wounded one civilian and caused some material damage.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian condemned the attack as a "clear violation of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity ... [and] contrary to international law and human principles", in a phone call with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad, Iran's state media reported.
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