News / Syria

Syrian air defenses foil drones, rockets fired at key base

Saturday, 18 May 2019 7:49 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 18 May 2019 8:49 AM ]

The file photo shows a Syrian air defense battery in action.

Syria says its air defenses in the Hmeimim air base have thwarted projectiles and drones fired by terrorist groups.

Terrorist groups fired projectiles at Hmeimim, situated in Latakia's Jableh district, as well as the nearby Qardaha neighborhood, the Syrian TV reported on Saturday.

It also noted that the attack had left one person dead and several others wounded.

Syria's official SANA news agency confirmed that terrorists based in the provinces of Idlib and Latakia had fired rockets at Sharasher and Hweiz villages in Lattakia countryside, killing one civilian and injuring two others.

The terrorist attack, it added, also caused material damage to Syrian houses.

In recent weeks, there has been a surge in attacks from Idlib which is the last major terrorist stronghold.

Russia has been piling pressure on Turkey to start an operation against terrorist-held areas after Ankara's failure to get militants linked to al-Qaeda out of a buffer zone agreed between the two countries.

In September, a deal was struck with the assistance of Russia and Turkey to make Idlib a de-escalation zone. The area is now largely controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham which was formerly known as Jubhat al-Nusra.

Russia has said it will refuse to consider terrorists "untouchable" and continue to target them.

The fresh raid came hours after Syrian air defenses intercepted "hostile targets" coming from Israel.

PressTV-Syria army intercepts Israeli projectiles near Damascus

Syrian army says its air defenses have brought down a number of projectiles launched from the Israeli-occupied territories.

"Aerial defenses targeted luminous objects coming from the occupied territories, shooting down a number of them," a military source told SANA.

In recent months, foreign-backed Takfiri terrorists have been suffering heavy defeats against Syrian government forces, backed by the Russian air force and Iranian military advisers.

Israel frequently attacks positions inside Syria in what is considered as an attempt to prop up anti-Damascus terrorists.

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