Syria to resume air traffic in Aleppo airport following Israeli attack

Damascus, Oct 16 (IANS) Syria's Transport Ministry has announced the resumption of air traffic at the airport of the northern province of Aleppo after the damage caused by the latest Israeli missile attack was fixed.

In a statement carried by the state news agency SANA, the Ministry said on Sunday that the airport will resume its operation on Monday after being repaired from the damage caused by the Israeli missile strike on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Ministry said it would allow airlines to reschedule their flights by either using the Aleppo International Airport or the still functional Latakia airport as alternatives to the Damascus International Airport, which is still undergoing extensive repairs after being hit by an Israeli missile attack on Thursday.

Both the airports in Aleppo and Damascus went out of service following the Israeli forces' attacks on Thursday. Syria's Transport Ministry announced to fix the runway of the Aleppo airport on Saturday, when its runway was again struck by Israeli forces.

The repeated Israeli strikes came amid escalating tensions in the region as Israel is preparing for a massive ground operation in Gaza after a surprise attack launched by Hamas prompted Israel's retaliatory attacks.

The ongoing conflict, now in its ninth day, has killed about 4,000 on both Israel and the Gaza Strip.