ANSD : Syrian air defense 'confronting' missile fire: SANA

FRI 26 - 4 - 2024

Date: Apr 17, 2018
Source: The Daily Star

Syrian air defense 'confronting' missile fire: SANA

_{James Haines-Young| The Daily Star}
BEIRUT: Syrian air defense systems responded to incoming missiles just after midnight Tuesday morning, the state-run SANA news agency reported.

Hezbollah's War Media Center said the raid was targeting the Shayat airbase in Homs. The facility was previously targeted by U.S. strikes after the Khan Sheikhoun chemical weapons attack in April 2017. The WMC said Syrian air defense units had intercepted "most" of the six missiles targeting the base.

It later reported that three missiles had also targeted the Dumair military airport northeast of Damascus, all of which were intercepted by the Syrian air defense units.

Reuters news agency reported the Pentagon denying U.S. involvement in the attacks. "There is no U.S. military activity in that area at this time," Eric Pahon, a Pentagon spokesman said. "We do not have additional details to provide."

Asked about the latest strikes, an Israeli military spokesperson told Reuters news agency: "We don't comment on such reports."

The latest strikes come just days after Israel is believed to have carried out strikes on April 9 near the city of Homs. The strikes hit the T-4 airbase, which was being used by Iranian troops at the time.

Sky News reported loud explosions were heard on the Syrian side of Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah is believed to control much of the area, having taken it from militant groups in 2015.

On Saturday, U.S., France and the U.K. hit three sites in Syria in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack in the then rebel-held town of Douma near Damascus. The U.S. has blamed the Syrian regime for numerous chemical weapons attacks, an accusation that Damascus and its allies deny.

The U.S. military said there were three targets: the Barzah chemical weapons research and development site in the Damascus area, a chemical weapons storage facility near Homs and a chemical weapons "bunker" a few miles from the second target.

Weapons inspectors from the OPCW arrived in Syria to carry out an independent investigation over the weekend, although Monday claimed that access was being blocked by the Russian and Syrian governments.

As well as previous strikes carried out by the U.S. and allies, Isreal has hit targets in Syria dozens of times to prevent what it calls sophisticated weapons transfers to Hezbollah as well as Iranian backed military buildup in areas close to its borders.

In the wake of the sarin attack a year ago in the town of Khan Sheikhoun that killed nearly 100 people, the United States launched dozens of cruise missiles on the Shayrat base, its first deliberate assault on the Assad government in the conflict.

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