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by IANS |
Jerusalem, Feb 25 (IANS) Israeli troops have raided Syrian army bases and seized or destroyed weapons found there, the Israeli military said in a statement.
During the raids, soldiers from the Paratroopers Brigade "located rifles, ammunition, and other military equipment left behind by the old Syrian regime forces," the military said. "All findings were either confiscated or dismantled."
The military said it had conducted "dozens" of similar raids since December, during which weapons had been "located, confiscated, and dismantled."
A battalion commander in the 474th Brigade, whose name was not disclosed, said in video footage released by the military that the aim of the raids was "to eliminate all the weapons and capabilities" of the Syrian army.
"This is part of a series of activities where we also located rockets, explosives, and mines, along with other explosives, and even tanks and armored personnel carriers, which we dismantled," he said.
The announcement came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces would maintain an "indefinite" presence at the peak of Mount Hermon and in the buffer zone along the Syrian border. He also called for the demilitarisation of the area south of Damascus, Xinhua news agency reported.
In December last year, following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government, Israel deployed ground forces into the buffer zone, a demilitarized area between the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights and Syria.
The buffer zone is monitored by the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, which was established under the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement. Despite international condemnations, Israel later captured what it describes as "strategic points" in the Syrian-controlled side of Mount Hermon, claiming the move aims to protect Israeli civilians.
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