Syrian General Accuses Israel Of Collaborating With ISIS, Al Qaeda-Linked Rebels

A Syrian general Sunday accused Israel of collaborating with the Islamic State group and al Qaeda-linked rebels following airstrikes that targeted a warehouse at Damascus airport and the Damascus-Beitur highway near the Lebanese border. Lt. Gen. Ali Abdulla Ayoub said the bombing "directly supports terrorism in Syria," the Jerusalem Post reported.

No casualties were reported, and the Israeli government has had no comment.

The intelligence site DebkaFile reported the airstrike on a warehouse at Damascus airport destroyed Russian SA-25 components destined for Hezbollah in Lebanon. Quoting Middle East military and intelligence sources, DebkaFile noted the airstrike came less than 24 hours after a meeting between Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah Saturday in Beirut.

In addition to the warehouse strike, DebkaFile said the air raid also hit the 103rd brigade of the 4th Division of the Syrian army, the president's republican guard, and its base at Dimas.

"The fact that Israel conducted air strikes against two facilities of the same Syrian army division along the route to Lebanon indicates that the targeted weapons were on their way from Syria to Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon," DebkaFile reported.

The Syrian General Command said in a statement that such attacks would not deter the Syrian military "from continuing its war against terrorism in all its forms, tools and tentacles in the entire territory of the country."

"This aggression confirms the direct involvement of Israel in support of terrorism in Syria," Syrian General Command said in a statement posted by SANA, "as well as Western and regional countries known to raise the morale of terrorist organizations."

Hezbollah's television station al-Manar reported the Syrian military fired surface-to-air missiles at the Israeli aircraft. Ynetnews quoted the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights as saying 10 explosions were heard.

The DebkaFile earlier reported the warehouse had been bombed in the past by Israel to destroy advanced weapons shipments headed for Hezbollah.

DebkaFile quoted Syrian and Lebanese sources that said Israel has conducted at least 10 airstrikes since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011. The most recent was in March against military posts near Quneitra, on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.