Syria claims shooting down Israeli missiles

DAMASCUS: Syrian air defences shot down Israeli missiles late on Friday, the official SANA news agency reported, citing a military source.

Most of the missiles ired by “Israeli military planes” were intercepted at around 11:00 pm (2100 GMT), the source said.

“Only a ministry of transport warehouse at Damascus international airport was hit,” SANA cited the military source as saying.

The state news agency also quoted a transport ministry source as saying that the airport was running normally.

Israel has previously carried out several bombings in Syria against what it says are Iranian military targets and advanced arms deliveries to Hizbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese group, both avowed enemies of Tel Aviv.

Many of them have been in the area south of Damascus.

“Two areas hosting military positions of Iranian forces and the Lebanese Hizbollah movement have been targeted,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

These were near the airport and around the Kisweh area south of Damascus, the observatory said.

In an earlier report, SANA had spoken of Syrian air-defence batteries attacking “enemy targets.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed not to let Tehran − a supporter of Assad − entrench itself militarily in the war-torn country.

On Dec.25, Assad accused the Israeli air force of iring missiles bear Damascus.

In September a Russian military plane was accidentally shot down by Syrian anti-aircraft ire that was attempting to block Israeli missiles.

Russia is a main ally of Damascus.