Israel strikes military targets in Syria after missile attack

JERUSALEM

The Israeli army said Wednesday it struck military targets in Syria in response to a missile attack.

A military statement said sirens sounded in the city of Umm al-Fahm in central Israel after an anti-aircraft missile was launched from Syria towards Israel.

The missile exploded mid-air without any interception, the statement said.

“In response to the anti-aircraft missile from Syria earlier tonight we just struck surface-to-air missile targets in Syria, including radar & anti-aircraft batteries,” the army said.

The Syrian state news agency SANA said the Israeli missile attacks targeted several points in the vicinity of Damascus city, without giving further details.

The agency said, citing a military source, that one soldier was killed and five others injured in the attack, in addition to material damage.

Earlier Wednesday, SANA said Syrian regime's air defenses had confronted "hostile targets in the sky of Damascus."

Last month, Israeli warplanes carried out a missile attack in the vicinity of Damascus, according to Syrian media.

From time to time, Israel launches airstrikes on regime and Iranian forces’ sites in various Syrian provinces.

Usually, Israel does not comment on such attacks. But its leaders often make statements confirming that they are working to "reduce" the Iranian presence in Syria.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat and Ahmet Gencturk