(Zaman Al Wasl)- Special photos and a military source revealed that Israel has used GBU-39, the U.S. ‘smart bombs’ in Monday’s overnight attack on Iran-run base in central Syria after being used for the first time on April 9 against the Iranian T-4 air base.
Using the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) in the attack on Brigade 47 south of Hama province was due to its small size and accuracy that allow for an effective munition with less collateral damage.
The attack left at least 50 forces dead, including 22 Iranians, according to Zaman al-Wasl sources. Most of the slain Syrian fighters were from coastal region.
On April 9, two Israeli F-15 warplanes used GBU-39 (SDB) in the 'successful' strike that left 7 Iranian forces killed, Including a Revolutionary Guard Colonel Mehdi Dahqan Yazdli, commander of the drone base in T-4.
According to images obtained by Zaman al-Wasl to the strike scene showed massive destruction inside the hangars but its roofs were undamaged.
The GBU-39 SDB have penetrated the ceiling from small holes and hit its target, the source said.
On April 1, local activists reported similar explosions in Brigade 47, which lies on the mountainous area between Homs and Hama provinces and run by Iran since 2012.
According to reports, the strikes might hit the Scientific Research center in Jabal Taqsis in the same region.
The attack comes amid rising tensions between Iran and Israel.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, on Monday unveiled what he said was a "half ton" of Iranian nuclear documents collected by Israeli intelligence, claiming it proved that Iranian leaders covered up a nuclear weapons program before signing a deal with world powers in 2015.
Israel Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in an interview published last Thursday that his country will strike Tehran if attacked by archenemy Iran, escalating an already tense war of words between the two adversaries, according to AP.
Tehran has sent thousands of Iran-backed fighters to back Bashar Assad's forces in the country's seven-year civil war.
Iranian state television, citing Syrian media, reported Monday's attack. The semiofficial ISNA news agency, citing "local sources and activists," said the strike killed 18 Iranians, including a commander, in a suburb of the central city of Hama.
The missiles targeted buildings and centers which likely include a weapons depot, ISNA reported.
Earlier on Monday, Syrian TV reported a "new aggression," with missiles targeting military outposts in northern Syria. The state-run television reported that the missiles targeted military outposts in the Hama and Aleppo countryside.
Syria-based opposition media activist Mohamad Rasheed said that base that came under attack is about 10 kilometers (7 miles) outside the city of Hama adding that airstrike led to several explosions in the arms depot. He added that the area is known as the Maarin Mountain or Mountain 47.
Rasheed said that some of the exploding missiles in the arms depot struck parts of Hama adding that residents in areas near the base fled their homes. He said the base has been run by Iranian and Iran-backed fighters from Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Zaman Al Wasl
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