Damascus:Â Syrian air defence units responded late on Sunday to an Israeli “aggression” on an air base in the country’s central province of Homs, shooting down several missiles, state TV said.
The channel, quoting an unidentified military official, said the attack targeted the T4 air base with six missiles. The report did not mention any casualties but said one warplane was hit and several missiles were shot down before reaching their target.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said the missiles targeted Iranian troops and non-Syrian pro-Iranian fighters.
The attack comes amid a Syrian government offensive against insurgent groups near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Russia and Iran have provided crucial military support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, helping them turn the tide in the seven-year civil war.
Read the article in The Sydney Morning Herald (AP).