The Russian military has charged that Israeli used nearby civilian aircraft has cover for the air strike it launched at targets in eastern Homs province on Wednesday night, Oct. 13. “Between 23:35 and 23:39 [local time] on Oct. 13, four Israeli Air Force F-16 tactical jet fighters entered the Syrian airspace near the al-Tanf area in the Homs province, occupied by the U.S., and attacked the phosphate ore processing plant near Palmyra,” destroying a communications tower and causing other damage, Adm. Vadim Kulit, the commander of the Russian Reconciliation Center, said yesterday, reported TASS. He added that “the Syrian military command decided not to engage air defense systems, because two civilian aircraft, en route from Dubai to Beirut and from Baghdad to Damascus, were present in the air defense area of effect.”