Syrians Celebrate Fall of Assad as Israel Strikes Nearly 500 Targets
The leader of the forces that ousted Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad has said that foreign governments should not be worried about what will happen in the country, saying Syria was “not ready” for another war.
Mohammad al-Jolani, leader of the main Islamist group in the coalition that overthrew the regime, told reporters in the Syrian capital Damascus Tuesday that foreign countries should not have unnecessary fears.
“The fear was from the presence of the regime; the regime is now gone,” Jolani said. “The country is moving towards development and reconstruction. It’s going towards stability.”
“People are exhausted from war so the country is not ready for another one and it’s not going to get into another one,” Jolani added.
“The source of our fears was from the Iranian militias, Hezbollah and the regime which committed the massacres we are seeing today.”
On the other hand the Israeli military said it has struck most of the strategic weapon stockpiles in Syria, claiming it carried out about 480 strikes across the country over two days.
The Israeli Air Force conducted approximately 350 manned aircraft strikes targeting airfields, anti-aircraft batteries, missiles, drones, fighter jets, tanks and weapon production sites in Damascus, Homs, Tartus, Latakia and Palmyra, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Tuesday.
It also conducted 130 additional airstrikes during ground operations that targeted weapons depots, military structures, launchers and firing positions, it said.
It also said its ships struck two Syrian naval facilities, where 15 vessels were docked. Dozens of sea-to-sea missiles were said to have been destroyed.
Earlier Tuesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Israeli navy had destroyed Syria’s naval fleet.
(Source: CNN)