I've updated twice already and it's starting to seem quite apparent that the US and Israel coordinated this attack on Syria. Please read all the way to the bottom- the last couple paragraphs are importantLink
The Syrian regime Tashrin journal revealed on early Monday that the source of missiles that hit Hama and Aleppo countryside northern Syria. The journal posted on Facebook and quoted from a field source that “Attack on Aleppo and Hama countryside was carried out using 9 Ballistic missiles launched form the U.S. and British bases northern Jordan”.Local sources told Qasioun News Agency that violent explosions hit The Scientific Research Mountain (Brigade 47) followed to the Syrian regime forces in the southern countryside of Hama, the mountain is considered a prominent base for the Iranian revolutionary guards corps IRGC and Syrian regime forces.
Meanwhile, no reports were received about bombarding Syrian regime forces in Aleppo countryside, it is predicted the shelling targeted Azan strategic mountain held by Iranian militias which was hit previously by the Israeli warplanes.
Could Israel have struck again? Coordinated with forces in Jordan?
The mountain known as Ma’arin Mountain is located 10km. from Hama city center and expands till southern and eastern Hama, it is considered as an Iranian base that includes Shiite militias from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon and Iraq
Syrian regime media sources said that the shelling led to kill more than 35 and injured 50 others from those militias due to the explosions that occurred after the shelling and the huge fire blazes.
This is very early reporting, so stay tuned. UPDATE #1:
Link US, UK bases fire missile at Syrian positions
Tehran, April 30, IRNA – The US and UK bases in Jordan on Monday fired 9 ballistic missiles at Syrian positions in Hama, Aleppo, Russian media ‘RT Arabic’ reported.
According to RT, an explosion happened in an arsenal in Hama.Syrian army base in Hama was also targeted.Meanwhile, based on local media reports, huge blasts rocked a Syrian arsenal in Tell Salhab, west of Hama.Meanwhile, Arab media ‘Al Mayadeen’ reported that some missiles hit Al-Malikiyah District in northern Aleppo.
A massive explosion occured at a Syrian Army military base in Hama, allegedly after it was hit by a missile strike.Another explosion has been heard near Aleppo. According to local TV station Surya, the explosions occurred at 10:30 PM local time.#Syria: the explosion that occured in #Hama is so big that it can be seen from rebel-held territory.Some civilians can be heard cheering as they see the fire. pic.twitter.com/xa4e2WkUPm— Thomas van Linge (@ThomasVLinge) 29 апреля 2018 г.According to a Haaretz report, Israel is responsible for the attack.
#SONDAKİKA Suriye’ye füze saldırısı, 2,6 büyüklüğünde depreme yol açtı#Syria ordusu, #Halep ve #Hama'nın kuzeyindeki üslerin vurulduğunu açıkladı. Gözlemciler, bölgede İran’a ait askeri üssün bulunduğunu bildirdi. Saldırının İsrail tarafından gerçekleştirildiği belirtiliyor. pic.twitter.com/aXZsgaInfC
— Kamil Eryazar (@FarkliBirBakis_) 29 апреля 2018 г.
UPDATE # 2 Resonant Syria strike suggests coordinated US-Israel message to Russia and Iran
Overnight attack comes with Pompeo in the region, Netanyahu and Trump on the phone, Liberman in the US, and the US Army CENTCOM chief having visited without fanfare last week
Pompeo/Netanyahu Arrive for Joint Press Conference
Bunker Busters used?
Hours after a mysterious “earthquake” — 2. 6 on the Richter scale — registered on the devices of the European Mediterranean Seismological Center, the circumstances behind the series of explosions that shook Syria overnight Sunday-Monday are starting to become clear.
An increasing number of media organizations associated with the Syrian regime and Hezbollah are hinting that Israel was responsible. According to a report in the Al Akhbar newspaper, identified with Hezbollah, bunker buster missiles, which do not explode on impact but rather deep in the ground, hit bases in the Hama and Aleppo areas. Hence the “earthquake.”
The base that was attacked in the Hama area belongs to the 47th Brigade of President Bashar Assad’s Syrian Army, but apparently there were many Shiites and/or Iranians in the area. The Syrian Human Rights Observatory (based in London) reported that 26 people were killed in this attack, Iranians among them. Another report spoke of 38 fatalities. Whatever the case, it is clear that the strike was highly unusual in several respects.
First and foremost was the sheer power of the attack. The pictures and the sounds, and the large number of casualties, point to an incident of larger scale than those to which we have become accustomed. We are not talking here about just another strike on another Hezbollah convoy, but rather what would appear to be a new step in what is now the almost-open warfare being waged between Iran and Israel in recent weeks on Syrian territory. The same player that earlier this month attacked the T-4 airbase.
Second, not only is the attacking force not rushing to take responsibility, but those who are being attacked are not hurrying to assign blame. That is to say, there may be hints regarding ostensible Israeli responsibility, but there has been no direct accusation — at least not at the time of writing.
Third, the latest strike was carried out at a time when the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is visiting the region, and just a few hours after he held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The two of them used the opportunity to issue no shortage of threats and promises to thwart Iran’s aggression and nuclear ambitions.
Late Sunday, news also broke of a phone call between Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump. Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman has been meeting with his US counterpart James Mattis in Washington. And less than a week ago, Gen. Joseph Votel, the head of the US army’s Central Command, or CENTCOM, whose sphere of responsibility includes Syria and Iran, made a largely unpublicized visit to Israel.
All this is beginning to look rather like a coordinated Israeli-American operation to limit Iran’s military activities in Syria — simultaneously conveying the message to Moscow that Russia’s green light for Iran to establish itself militarily in Syria is not acceptable in Jerusalem and Washington.These developments are unfolding during a highly dramatic period in the region, with the US two weeks away from opening its embassy in Jerusalem. Of most specific relevance, however, is the fact that in less than two weeks the Trump administration will make its decision on whether or not to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal.
In that light, the resonant strikes in Syria overnight will doubtless constitute considerable food for thought for Tehran, and indeed Moscow, regarding their next moves in Syria and maybe in other places as well.