IDF: Explosive device on Syria border targeted patrol, investigation finds

Blast that damaged IDF vehicle patrolling on Israeli side of border on Friday set off in Syrian territory.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
An IDF artillery vehicle on the Golan Heights 370 (photo credit: IDF Spokesperson Unit)
An IDF artillery vehicle on the Golan Heights 370
(photo credit: IDF Spokesperson Unit)
An initial investigation into Friday's blast that damaged an IDF vehicle in the northern Golan Heights found that an explosive device was placed on the Syrian side of the fence, and that the attackers were targeting a passing IDF patrol, the army said on Saturday.
The device targeted an IDF patrol as it passed on the Israeli side of the border, damaging the rear window of the vehicle. No soldiers were injured in the incident.
No organization has claimed responsibility.
“We’re looking at all possibilities,” an IDF source told The Jerusalem Post over the weekend.
The IDF has spent months preparing for an escalation of violence along the Syrian frontier, with potential attackers ranging from jihadi rebels to Assad loyalist forces. It is constructing a new barrier on the border with Syria, said to be missile proof and complete with advanced electronic sensors.
In southern Syria near the border with Israel, rebels and the Syrian army have been clashing on a daily basis in recent days, with rebel forces defending a strip of villages under their control from a regime push to retake them. Some of the border regions are under the control of the Syrian Army.
IDF officials report witnessing a basic pattern in which the Syrian Army gathers its forces near a village under rebel control, prompting civilians to flee. A battle then ensues, and civilians return to their homes when it ends.
“There have been no strategic changes here,” the army source said, adding: “This pattern has been repeating itself.”
In October, two soldiers were lightly injured in the area by shrapnel from a Syrian mortar. The Syrian artillery post that fired the projectile was destroyed by the IDF soon after.