Airstrikes Hit Syrian City Said to Be a Weapons Research Hub, Killing 18

Syria accused Israel of carrying out the attacks in and around Masyaf, where experts say missiles and unconventional weapons are developed. Israel did not comment.

Airstrikes in Syria killed at least 18 people and injured dozens of others, Syria’s state news media reported on Monday, blaming Israel for the attacks in and around a city known as a center for the development of weapons, including missiles.

The Syrian state news agency, SANA, said multiple sites were hit in and near Masyaf, a small city in northwestern Syria; most of its reports were vague about what, exactly, was struck, but some said the targets were military sites. Israeli officials declined to comment on the attack.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group based in Britain that tracks the conflict in Syria, confirmed the strikes and said they hit an area containing a scientific research institute where work on “developing short- and medium-range precision missiles” is conducted. It cited unnamed sources in the Syrian security forces.

Independent experts, Israeli officials and the U.S. government have described that institute as a center of weapons research and development, aided by Syria’s ally Iran, with the work being done there including chemical, biological and potentially nuclear weapons as well as missiles used by Hezbollah, the powerful Iran-backed militia group in Lebanon that is fighting Israel.

Israel has struck Masyaf, about 25 miles from the Mediterranean coast, several times in the past.

The airstrikes late Sunday night and early Monday amounted to one of the deadliest attacks in Syria in months. SANA said that in addition to the 18 dead, 37 people had been injured in the strikes, including six who were in critical condition. The agency said that the strikes had damaged roads and water, power and telephone infrastructure.