Damascus, Aug. 18 -- Northwest Syria was hit by eight Israeli airstrikes early Tuesday, August 18, State-owned Syrian media reported, while the US envoy for the region has called it an "unnecessary escalation".

Citing a military source, Syria's Ekhbariya said that the attack targeted a runway and storage facilities at the Abu al-Duhur base. A different military source and a civilian living nearby said there were no casualties.

The base is nearly 70 kilometres away from the Turkish border and has not been in service as a military airfield since 2013. It changed leadership numerous times during Syria's civil war, which lasted 14 years between forces loyal to former President Bashar al-Assad and opposition factions.

After Assad was ousted...