War monitor says blasts in Syria airport killed 2

BEIRUT — At least two military personnel were killed and 11 wounded in overnight explosions caused by suspected Israeli strikes on a military airport on the edge of the Syrian capital, a war monitoring group said Sunday.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the blasts that rocked Damascus resulted in several explosions in a weapons depot inside the airport. The Observatory, which relies on various sources inside Syria, said some of the wounded are in critical condition.

Syrian pro-government media initially blamed the blasts on Israel, but state media later quoted an unnamed Syrian military official as saying the explosions were caused by an electrical malfunction in a munition depot nearby.

Iran’s official IRNA news agency quoted an unnamed Syria-based Iranian military official as saying an explosion was caused by an electrical short circuit. The official denied reports that senior Syrian officials were at the site.