Syrian defenses engage ‘hostile’ air target near Damascus – state media

10 Aug, 2018 23:15 / Updated 6 years ago

Syrian air defenses have engaged an incoming “hostile target” in the airspace west of the nation’s capital, SANA news reports.

According to the report, the intrusion was detected above the area of Deir al-Asha'ir in the Damascus countryside just after midnight. There are no immediate reports of damages or casualties.

After its detection to the west of Damascus, the enemy target was "destroyed," SANA's report noted, hinting that Tel Aviv could be behind the attack. However, the origin of the “hostile target” has not been yet identified. 

In recent months, Israel has been frequently carrying out missile strikes in Syria due to concerns that its main geopolitical rival, Iran, which is helping the government in Damascus to fight terrorists, may use the Syrian territory as a foothold to attack the Jewish state.

On August 2, Syrian forces allegedly shot down two Israeli reconnaissance drones to the west of Syria's capital, according to local sources. Israeli military, however, did not comment on the incident, following their policy of rarely admitting their operations on Syrian territory.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident on Friday, the Russian military noted that militants continued to launch armed drones towards the Hmeimim air base in Latakia province. Over the past 24 hours, Russian air defenses shot down two “small-size air targets” that came from the north, from a territory held by illegal armed groups.

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