Watch: IDF Tamuz missile hits Syrian outpost
Footage shows missile destroy position manning Syrian troops who fire machine guns at Israeli soldiers. Commander: Feeling of great satisfaction
Six Syrian outposts have been destroyed over the past few months by Tamuz missiles fired by IDF Artillery Corps soldiers. Ynet is revealing for the first time images from an incident in March during which one such missile destroyed a Syrian position after machine gun fire emanating from the outpost targeted Israeli soldiers.
The agreement brokered by the US and Russia to disarm Syria of its chemical weapons has significantly reduced the chances that America will launch an attack against President Bashar Assad's regime anytime soon, but the IDF has remained on high alert on the Golan Heights front.
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The video shows Syrian troops positioned some 2.3 kilometers (about 1.4 miles) from the border with Israel opening fire on an IDF force. The footage was taken from the missile's monitoring system "On the night before our (Tamuz) attack, soldiers from the Meitar Unit's reconnaissance company detected Syrian machine gun fire, with ricochets hitting the patrol vehicle," recounted the unit's commander.
Watch Tamuz missile destroy outpost:
"The following day our force scoured the scene of the incident, and even before I arrived, the commander reported that machine gun fire emanating from the same Syrian position was targeting the soldiers. Soldiers manning an observation post identified the source – the same Syrian position that opened fire on our soldiers the previous day. At the scene we found 14.5-millimeter shells - three times the size of the bullets fired by standard IDF heavy machineguns – which were flying over our heads. The company commander launched the Tamuz missile at 8 am, and the Syrian position was destroyed just minutes after we were shot at," said Lieutenant-Colonel Tomer.
Last week three mortars fired during clashes that erupted in the central Golan Heights between Syrian rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar Assad landed in Israeli territory.
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Lieutenant-Colonel Tomer said more IDF recruits are asking to join the Meitar Unit due to its activity along the border with Syria.
Lieutenant Alon, the deputy company commander who was in charge of the recent Tamuz launching, said "there is a feeling of great satisfaction after the missile is fired, when you know you protected a community you see every day. But there is also tension; you think that maybe this time the other side will respond."
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