Suspects arrested over rocket attacks on Syria's Mezzeh military airport

Syrian security forces arrested suspects accused of attacking the Mezzeh area of Damascus' countryside and its military airport, Interior Minister Anas Khattab announced on Saturday.

Khattab said the detainees were suspected of attacking the airport several times, in what he described as "desperate attempts to destabilise security and stability".

Mezzeh district and its military airport have been targeted several times by rocket attacks in recent months. In November, a rocket attack hurt one woman, while another attack in December targeted the military airport and its surroundings with three rockets.

Earlier this month, rockets struck the Mezzeh 86 district and the vicinity of the airport, with one rocket hitting the Al-Muhammadi Mosque.

On January 3, 2026, rockets landed in the Mezzeh 86 district and the vicinity of the military airport, with one rocket damaging the Al-Muhammadi Mosque in the area.

The Syrian Ministry of Defence previously announced the discovery of rudimentary military equipment used by the attackers to launch the rockets. According to sources who spoke to The New Arab's Arabic-language sister site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, at the time, the equipment seized in the area was found on land near the Kafr Souseh neighbourhood and included batteries and a launch timer.

Syrian sources confirmed that the rockets used in the attack were Katyusha rockets, indicating that the attack was launched from an area within the sensitive security zone of the capital.

The Mezzeh district of Damascus houses several vital facilities, including Damascus University, a number of embassies, and residential buildings, in addition to the more densely populated area known as "Mezzeh 86." Mezzeh Airport, one of the oldest military airfields in Syria, is located in the western part of Damascus, within the administrative boundaries of the district.