Sonic Boom Air ‘War’

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32210, 31 January 1970, Page 11

Sonic Boom Air ‘War’

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) TEL AVIV, January 30. For the second successive day, lowflying Israeli jet aircraft swooped over Damascus early today, causing multiple supersonic booms, and flew on to treat four other Syrian cities in like manner.

Apparently the flights were a boom-for-boom retaliation for the “buzzing” of Israel’s main port of Haifa yesterday afternoon by a Syrian MiG2l jet fighter—the first Arab aircraft seen over an Israel city since the six-day war of June, 1967.

The Israeli reprisal flights are regarded by observers in Tel Aviv as a show of strength, ; and as a warning to Damascus- against a similar venture. The Israeli jets flashed through the speed of sound over Damascus, Aleppo, Lakakia, Homs and Hamah just after midnight,' a Tel Aviv military spokesman said, adding, as if to underline-Syria’s vulnerability in this new kind of psychological warfare, the exact distances from Haifa of each of the five Syrian cities —from 85 to 275 miles. The MiG’s boom over Haifa had sent hundreds of people rushing out into the streets because it broke dozens of windows, but there were no reports of panic; most people believed the aircraft was an Israeli one until they heard the news.

The Syrian jet flew home without opening fire or dropping any bombs. The incident occurred after another day of intense Israeli air activity in which jets raided Arab guerrilla positions in Jordan, and Egyptian military targets near the Suez Canal.

In Cairo, an Egyptian military spokesman ■ announced that one civilian had been killed and 11 others injured by the Israeli raids in the Suez area. At the same time, Egyptians were warned by Cairo’s leading political commentator (Mohammed Hassanein Heykal) that Israel might intensify her air attacks.

A close friend of President Nasser, Mr Heykal said in his weekly article in the authoritative “Al Ahram,” that the recent Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Cairo were “only the beginning.”