Syrian authorities have decried “foreign intervention” in Syrian affairs after Israel launched air attacks on a town near Damascus where government forces and several other groups had taken part in deadly clashes.A Syrian Ministry of Interior source told Al Jazeera Arabic that at least four Israeli air strikes targeted security personnel in the mainly Druze town of Ashrafieh Sahnaya on Wednesday.
The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, in a statement, rejected “all forms of foreign intervention”, but did not explicitly accuse Israel of carrying out the attacks. Syria “affirms its unwavering commitment to protect all components of the Syrian people … including the children of the honourable Druze community,” the Foreign Ministry added in its statement.
Israel said it had carried out a strike in Syria against so-called “extremists” who attacked members of the Druze community, following through on what it said was a promise to protect the minority group.
The military said that three Syrian Druze citizens had been evacuated from Syria to receive medical treatment in Israel. Advertisement
The strikes came following confrontations between Syrian government loyalists and members of the Druze military council that killed dozens of people in two days.
The director of security for the Damascus countryside, Hussam al-Tahhan, told Syria’s state-run SANA news agency that a security operation was launched there and that reinforcements were sent to ensure the return of “security and stability” to …