Airstrikes Target Abu al-Duhur Military Base in Syria's Idlib Region

State media in Syria have reported that eight air strikes struck an airbase located in northwestern Syria's Idlib governorate, resulting in material damage but no casualties. According to state television broadcasts, the early Tuesday strikes targeted the runway of the Abu al-Duhur military base situated in the eastern countryside of Idlib. This incident marks the first recorded attack on the facility following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024.

State television cited a military source who attributed the operation to Israeli forces. The unidentified source stated that Israeli occupation aircraft carried out eight strikes targeting the runway of the Abu Duhur military airport early Tuesday morning. At the time of the reports, the Israeli military had not issued any immediate comments regarding the incident.

Reporting from Damascus, Al Jazeera correspondent Sohaib al-Khalaf noted that the pattern of this attack mirrors past Israeli strikes on Syrian military infrastructure, which have historically sought to degrade the capabilities of the Syrian military. The Abu al-Duhur airbase endured severe destruction throughout the 14-year Syrian war. Opposition forces initially seized control of the site in 2015 following battles with government forces, and while forces loyal to al-Assad recaptured it in 2019, the base remained non-functional due to extensive war-related damage.

Al Jazeera’s Heidi Pett, reporting from Saraqib, observed that Israel has intensified its targeting of Syrian military installations since the departure of al-Assad. She explained that a sustained campaign to diminish Syrian military capabilities began under the Assad regime and escalated rapidly after its fall. Pett added that Israel systematically dismantled the Syrian air force, and efforts to restore some of that air capacity had been underway over the past year and a half.