HEZBOLLAH TV CLAIMS ISRAEL ATTACKED A CHICKEN COOP

Israel does appear to have attacked a deadly and dangerous chicken coop in a civilian area, killing civilians.

Israel targeted Syrian air defense units as well as an arms and ammunition warehouse, Hezbollah TV station al-Manar claimed Sunday afternoon, broadcasting the first daylight video images of the site northwest of Damascus that was hit overnight.

Israel attacked an arms warehouse in the Dimass area, 30 kilometers (18 miles) northwest of the capital Damascus, near the border with Lebanon, al-Manar reported. The video footage shows mortar shells and rockets scattered on the ground, as plumes of black smoke rise from the site amid the sound of exploding ammunition in the background.

The second site attacked by Israel, claimed the al-Manar website, was a chicken coop owned by the Syrian army, surrounded by military factories producing cement and tea. According to al-Manar, “a number” of soldiers and civilians were killed in the attack.

“There are sensitive points we guard here,” one soldier who witnessed the attack said. “Suddenly the airplanes arrived.” An older unidentified man in military uniform claimed that “99 percent of the area is civilian.”

Assad’s deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad told CNN on Sunday that the Israeli attack on Syria was “a declaration of war,” while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed his trip to China by two hours to discuss the developments in Syria with his cabinet.

Israel has not claimed responsibility for the night strikes.

[source : Israel said to hit arms depot, first daylight images reveal, The Times of Israel, http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-hit-arms-depot-first-daylight-images-reveal/, 5th May 2013]