Syria's skies turned war zone: Civilians fear collateral damage
In al-Hol, a town not far from the Iraqi border, residents described scenes of missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles streaking overhead. Dozens were spotted cutting across the sky toward the south, believed to be Iranian projectiles heading in the direction of Israel. Around 11 p.m. on Saturday, three powerful explosions echoed through the night, as high-altitude aircraft, invisible to the eye, moved above.
The aftermath surfaced the following morning in al-Shalala, a village near al-Hol, where locals discovered missile fragments scattered across the ground. The remains are thought to belong to an Iranian missile intercepted mid-air by unidentified aircraft.
Military responses soon followed. In Syria's northeastern al-Hasakah province, US Global Coalition forces deployed anti-aircraft fire from two of their bases — Khrab al-Jeer and al-Shaddadi. Meanwhile, civilians across the region noticed flares lighting up the sky above several US military installations, signaling heightened alert.
The impact of these aerial confrontations is not confined to military calculations. In the village of al-Baghouz, which sits near Iraq's al-Qaim, residents are growing increasingly uneasy. The continuing missile exchanges between Tehran and Tel Aviv have stirred fears of collateral damage reaching Syrian soil.
Fawza al-Jalabi, a woman living in the area, described nights filled with tension. 'We've seen strange illuminated objects flying through the sky,' she told our agency. 'You can hear planes, but you can't see them in the darkness.'
Her concerns run deeper than just the sounds of war above. 'The Syrian people have already endured years of war,' she continued. 'We are trying to rebuild what was destroyed — the economy, infrastructure, and social fabric. Any new conflict could affect the entire region, including Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon.'
That fear is not unfounded. In southern Syria, several Iranian missiles were reported to have fallen in recent days, including in Daraa province, after being allegedly intercepted by Israeli aircraft and defense systems mid-flight.
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