Massive explosion at Damascus airport blamed on Israeli air raid

A massive blast was reported at Damascus airport in the Syrian capital in the early hours of Thursday (27 April). Local reports suggest that the blast could be a result of an Israeli air strike, although the claim could not be independently verified.

Witnesses and monitors said that a massive fire was seen at Syria's main airport and the Mezzeh army base shortly after the explosion.

"The blast was huge and could be heard in Damascus," said the monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The activist-run Diary of a Mortar, which reports from Damascus, confirmed a large blast and a fire at the Damascus International Airport while a Syrian regime-run agency said an arterial road leading to the airport was hit by an explosion.

Rebel-linked reports accused Israel of launching missiles on a weapons facility, which triggered a large explosion. Neither the Syrian regime nor Israeli forces have released any official statement as yet.

If confirmed, this will not be the first time Israel has conducted strikes on Syrian targets. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) has reportedly launched attacks against positions of forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in the past.