Local media reported two large explosions in Aleppo early on Saturday morning, with some reports claiming that an alleged Israeli airstrike had targeted Iranian sites in the city. Syrian state media later denied that the explosions had been caused by an airstrike.
The SANA state news agency reported early Saturday morning that an explosion had been heard in Aleppo, without providing further details.
A correspondent for the Step News Agency reported that the explosions were believed to have been caused by a strike on Iranian sites in the city and that four bodies had been brought from the scene of the explosion to a hospital in Aleppo, but it was unknown whether the casualties belonged to the Syrian military or Iranian militias. The reports indicated that the airstrikes targeted the Ramouse suburb near a military school. The opposition-affiliated Halab Today TV also reported on the alleged airstrikes, stressing that no official source provided information on the cause or location of the explosion.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Saturday that while the source of the explosion was unknown, unidentified aircraft were reported over the area when the explosion occurred. The SOHR also reported that the explosion occurred in the Ramouse area. However, State media later denied reports of an attack targeting the Aleppo International Airport or the Artillery School in Ramouse, which is located southwest of Aleppo.
On Friday, Iranian militias began to withdraw from the area near the Aleppo International Airport and moved to Al-Safira southeast of Aleppo, according to Halab Today. The militias were replaced by Russian forces. The militias included members of the Lebanese Hezbollah terror group, the Shi’ite Liwa Zainebiyoun militia and the Shi’ite Quwat Al-Ridha. The militias evacuated due to recent alleged Israeli airstrikes, according to the report.
Iranian-backed militias have been shuffled throughout Syria since a series of airstrikes targeted Iranian and Syrian targets in the country in recent weeks, according to local reports.
The Liwa Fatemiyoun and Brigade 313 militias were transferred out of the Deir Ezzor area of eastern Syria last week, according to local news source DeirEzzor24.
The formerly Iranian-backed and currently Russian-backed Palestinian Liwa al-Quds (Jerusalem Brigade) militia which was located in Aleppo entered the city of Al-Bukamal in the Deir Ezzor area, in order to take over the headquarters of Iranian militias in the city after a request by Russia, according to Halab Today.
Earlier this month, alleged Israeli airstrikes targeted a research center and a military base in Aleppo where Iranian militias are based, the fifth such strike in two weeks, according to Syrian media.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that airstrikes that were likely carried out by Israel targeted the scientific research center in Aleppo where both Iranian militias and Syrian forces are based, destroying ammunition depots in the area.
Western intelligence sources say Iranian-backed militias have long been entrenched in Aleppo province where they have bases and a command center and installed advanced weapons, part of a growing presence across government-controlled Syria.
Aleppo was targeted by alleged Israeli airstrikes last year in March as well.
Shortly after the strikes in Aleppo, additional airstrikes by unidentified aircraft were carried out in Al-Mayadeen in the Deir Ezzor area located near the Syria-Iraq border. Fourteen Iranians and Iran-backed militants were killed in the alleged Israeli airstrikes in Deir Ezzor, according to SOHR.
A regional intelligence source said Israel was stepping up raids in Syria at a time when world attention and the region, including Syria, were distracted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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