State Media: Syrian air defences destroy hostile target near Damascus

A fighter jet, belonging to either the Syrian or Russian air force drops bombs during an airstrike over residential areas of Arbin town of the Eastern Ghouta region of Damascus in Syria on December 2, 2017 [Samir Tatin / Anadolu Agency]

Syrian state media said late on Thursday that air defences had destroyed a “hostile target” west of the capital Damascus, Reuters reports.

“Our air defences confronted a hostile target and destroyed it west of Damascus,” the state news agency SANA said, quoting a military source.

Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have recovered the bulk of the country from rebels and militants after more than seven years of civil war, helped by Russian air power and Iran-backed militias.

Israel, concerned that Iran’s growing presence in Syria poses a threat to its security, has struck dozens of Iranian and Iran-backed positions in Syria over the course of the seven-year conflict.

Read: Israel says Assad back in charge, Syria front likely to be quieter

An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment on the SANA report.

On Thursday Israel said it killed Daesh insurgents who approached its border after being squeezed out of southwestern Syria by Syrian forces.

Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.