The IDF on Thursday revealed the play-by-play of the September 8 battle on the ground between the IDF’s Shaldag and Syrian forces against a uniquely threatening underground Iranian missile production facility near Masyaf.
Shaldag is the special operations arm of the air force, so they are often the first option for operations in other countries, especially those using helicopters in complex landing areas.
At the outset, it should be noted that there were five Syrian underground tunnels to the facility, guarded by 11 different Syrian posts clumped together in three main positions, manned by around 30 Syrian troops.
Israeli aircraft, drones, and helicopters attacked the Syrian positions before four helicopters dropped off dozens of Shaldag special forces to move toward the facility on foot.
While Shaldag forces came from two different directions, the key component was dropped off around 700 meters from the main facility entrance, where the IDF had decided to penetrate the facility.
The initial attack by Israeli air power and initial IDF forces killed around 26 of the 30 Syrians. Shaldag forces then moved in and killed the remaining four Syrian guards.
At least two of those killed were guarding the entrance to the base, and some Syrians were in jeeps or on motorcycles who tried to approach and assist.
The mix of a first strike to surprise the guards and quickly eliminate any remainder of the guards was critical to Israel’s exit strategy from Syria before large reinforcements would arrive, which could overwhelm even the relatively large Israeli forces on the ground.
It almost went badly
During the first two and a half hours of the operation, dozens of additional Syrian forces came to try to oust the IDF from the site. However, it took them time to arrive, and once they did, a mix of IDF airpower and portions of Shaldag forces holding a perimeter successfully prevented them from interfering with the operation.
However, IDF sources estimated that if the operation had gone on another hour, hundreds of Syrian forces, including those with greater firepower, were on the way and would have arrived and potentially been able to severely harm the Shaldag forces in play.
After the initial fighting, the Shaldag forces used unspecified classified means to break open the main doors of the facility, which were locked in a very complex way.
This process took some significant time, and carrying it out as fast as possible was another critical part of the mission planning to avoid the Shaldag forces being overtaken by large Syrian reinforcements.
Once the door was breached, another element of Shaldag forces with a mini-tractor, a variety of explosives, and specialized trained explosive experts entered the facility along with dozens of IDF forces.
There were three pathways to the key inner facilities, and the IDF took pathway three.
Inside and after traversing numerous corridors, there were three critical rooms with powerful weapons being built and four rooms for building rocket engines, along with many other logistics rooms and office space.
These rooms contained facilities for building missiles and rockets such as the M-600, with a range of 250-300 km.; the M302, with a range of 130 km.; the M220, with a range of 70 km.; the M122, with a range 40 km., a special cement mixer, and other items.
Video footage seen by The Jerusalem Post of the soldiers inserting a variety of special explosives in many of the weapon systems and building components within the facility.
Operatives involved in the operation told the Post it was “incredible” and the most significant operation they had ever participated in, despite having participated in covert missions in many other places outside of Israel. They also thanked IDF intelligence for providing them with an accurate picture of what to expect inside the facility.
Along with the firepower of the explosives in the facility itself, the collective power of the explosion of the facility likely reached around a ton of explosives.
The outcome was to prevent Iran, Hezbollah, and Iranian militias in Syria from manufacturing between 100 and 300 long-range, high-quality missiles per year near the border with Israel without the need to continue to smuggle them to the area from the faraway Islamic Republic.
IDF sources said Shaldag has carried out around 800 operations during the war. These operations started in Gaza, including uncovering and destroying a major weapons manufacturing facility in central Gaza. However, their operations expanded around December 2023 to include Lebanon, such as an operation at Maroun a-Ras.
Thirteen Shaldag fighters, including some high-level commanders, have been killed during the war.About 50% of Shaldag is now reservists, and the special forces unit has grown significantly during the war.
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