During the attack of Israeli fighter jets near Damascus airport, a passenger plane with 172 passengers on board en route from Tehran to Damascus was preparing to land, official spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry Igor Konashenkov said on Friday, according to TASS.
The passenger plane narrowly escaped "the lethal zone of artillery fire," he added.
"Only thanks to prompt actions of dispatchers at Damascus airport and effective work of the automated system of monitoring air traffic, the Airbus-320 was escorted from the danger zone and assisted in successfully landing at an aerodrome at the Russian airbase Hmeymim," he added.
"Israeli General Staff's military operations in the air using passenger jets for cover or block of response fire by Syrian missile systems is becoming a typical trait of Israeli Air Force," he noted.
He said that the Israeli Air Force delivered airstrikes on the outskirts of Damascus on February 6 without entering Syria's airspace. Israeli fighter jets fired eight air-to-surface missiles. Syrian military used missile defense systems to repel the airstrikes.
MNA/TASS
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