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Syria’s air defenses repel Israeli aggression, shoot down missiles near Damascus

Wednesday, 17 March 2021 2:03 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 17 March 2021 2:03 AM ]

Missile fire lights up the sky over Damascus as the US launches an attack on Syria, on April 14, 2018. (Photo by AP)

Syrian media say the country’s air defenses have shot down a number of Israeli missiles near the capital, Damascus.

Syria's official news agency SANA, citing a military source, announced late on Tuesday that, “The Israeli enemy perpetrated a missile aggression from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights on some targets in the surroundings of Damascus.”

The source said Syria’s army air defenses confronted the aggression and shot down most of the missiles, adding that losses were restricted to materials.

Israeli media claimed that the missiles targeted a weapons shipment that had arrived at the Damascus International Airport earlier in the day.

Israel frequently targets military positions inside Syria, especially those affiliated with the resistance movement, which has played a key role in helping the Syrian army in its fight against foreign-backed terrorists since 2011.

The Tel Aviv regime mostly keeps quiet about the attacks on Syrian territories which many view as knee-jerk reaction to the Syrian government’s increasing success in confronting terrorism in country.

Syria has on several occasions called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to condemn Israeli attacks on its territory, urging the world body to act decisively to stop the regime.

Syria urges Security Council to condemn Israeli attacks on its territory

Israel often targets military positions inside Syria, particularly those affiliated with Lebanon’s resistance movement Hezbollah.

Early last month, Israeli air-to-surface and surface-to-surface missiles were intercepted by the Syrian air defense systems over the country's southwestern province of Quneitra.

In early January, a similar attack was carried out by Israel on the southwestern town of al-Zabadani in the Rif Dimashq governorate, which claimed the life of a Syrian soldier and injured three others.

In mid-January, the city of Dayr al-Zawr and the town of al-Bukamal were targeted by Israeli airstrikes, which were carried out with intelligence provided by the US, according to a US official.

Syrian air defenses intercept Israeli missiles coming from occupied Golan Heights

The Syrian air defenses have intercepted Israeli missiles coming from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The Syrian government wrote to the UN in January to protest another attack that killed four members of a family near the western city of Hama.

The letter by the Syrian Foreign Ministry said Damascus reserves the right to defend the country’s sovereignty and civilians against such acts of aggression.

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