Syria used no air defense at Israel's F-16s due to 2 civilian planes nearby: Russia

Damascus [Syria], October 15 (Sputnik): The Syrian military decided not to use air defense systems at the time of the Israeli aviation attack on Wednesday, since there were two civil aircraft in the affected area, Rear Adm. Vadim Kulit, deputy head of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria, said on Thursday.

"On October 13, from 23:35 to 23:39, four F-16 tactical fighters of the Israeli Air Force entered Syrian airspace in the US-occupied Al-Tanf zone in Homs Province and struck a phosphate ore processing plant in the Palmyra region ... The Syrian military leadership decided not to use air defense systems, since at the time of the Israeli aviation attack, two civilian passenger aircraft were in the zone of destruction of the anti-aircraft systems," Kulit said at a briefing. (ANI/Sputnik)