Mortars fired at Damascus airport, delay 3 flights

Rebels fired two mortar rounds at Damascus international airport on Thursday, delaying two landings and one take-off, Syrian state television cited Transport Minister Mahmoud Said as saying. "One mortar round hit at the airport's edges, near the runway, causing two flights coming from Latakia (in northwestern Syria) and Kuwait to delay their landing. The take-off of a flight to Baghdad was also delayed," said the minister. No passengers were hurt, but a second round hit an airport warehouse and one worker was wounded, Said added. The rounds were fired by "terrorists," the regime's term for rebels, he added. The statement comes after the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported a homemade rocket attack at the airport, the regime's main gateway to the world. "Rebels hit Damascus airport with three homemade rockets," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman, who described the attack as "rare." The airport lies southeast of Damascus, near several flashpoint areas and near the heated Eastern Ghouta region, large swathes of which are in rebel hands. For several months, rebels have been trying to cut off the regime's access to the airport.