As per reports from Syrian government officials, an enormous fire erupted at the port of Latakia on 28 December, engulfing the port’s container terminal.
This is the second incident in a month, where government officials have claimed Israeli missile strikes to be the cause of the incident.
Citing a military source, Syrian state news agency, Sana said, “At around 3:21 am [01:21 GMT], the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial aggression with several missiles from the direction of the Mediterranean, targeting the container yard in Latakia port.”
Results of the #Israeli airstrikes on the port of #Latakia, #Syria pic.twitter.com/RTRTM35Dxx
— R&U Videos (@r_u_vid) December 28, 2021
Pictures released by Sana showed firefighters trying to put off blazing containers that had ‘lit up the night sky. The state-owned media stated that the containers had “engine oil and spare parts for cars and other vehicles”.
A secondary explosion was consequently heard for miles after the primary explosion, as per Syrian officials. The resulting fire had burned for hours, setting containers ablaze in its trail.
Intelligence analysts from around the world noted the Shiba, an Iranian flagged container ship calling the Syrian port on 24 December, fueling speculation that the container terminal ‘air strike’ might have targeted military-grade equipment unloaded from the container vessel.
Latakia port still burning today pic.twitter.com/QkPfGCeibD
— ELINT News (@ELINTNews) December 28, 2021
Ankur Kundu
Correspondent
