Israel on Wednesday revealed that it was behind a commando raid on an Iranian missile manufacturing facility in Syria months before the rebels ouster Bashar al-Assad.
Under Operation Deep Layer, Israeli Air Force's Shaldag unit entered the Scientific Studies and Research Centre (CERS) in Masyaf on September 8. The commandos razed an underground facility used by Iran to manufacture missiles for Hezbollah.
The site in Maysaf is located west of Hama, more than 200 kilometres north of Israel. IDF has launched airstrikes on the site several times in the past five years but they could not target the underground facility used by Iran, prompting them to raid it.
On September 8, IAF commandos were dropped from helicopters, following which they entered the facility after killing a few guards at the entrance. They then recovered intelligence materials and planted explosives in the underground facility. The troops were able to exit the facility within an hour and the explosives were detonated remotely.
Ahead of the raid, IDF ensured safety of the helicopters by targeting roads leading to the facility and killed at least 14 people and injuring 43. The strikes also served as a diversion to disguise the arrival of the helicopters.
Reports said the US knew about the operation. The US had earlier alleged that CERS developed sarin gas for chemical attacks.
The IDF last month captured the Syrian side of the buffer zone in Golan Heights, calling it a "defensive and temporary" step. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said the IDF's aim is to protect the country's border as the 1974 agreement with the Assad regime collapsed with his ouster.
The buffer zone was agreed as per the Agreement on Disengagement between the two countries in 1974 following the Yom Kippur war.
