News / Syria

Syria air defense intercepts missile coming from northern Lebanon

Thursday, 15 August 2019 9:19 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 15 August 2019 10:56 PM ]

This file photo taken on January 21, 2019 shows Syrian air defense batteries responding to Israeli missiles targeting Damascus. (Photo by AFP)

Syrian air defense has intercepted and destroyed a missile coming from northern Lebanon over the western-central governorate of Hama, state media say.

Quoting an unnamed military source, Syria's official SANA news agency reported that the "hostile" missile was shot down at 23:06 local time (20:06 GMT) on Thursday over the city of Masyaf before reaching its designated target.

State television had previously reported the sound of a massive blast near Masyaf although there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The Israeli regime has acknowledged repeatedly striking positions inside Syria in recent years, and some of such attacks have been carried out from Lebanese airspace.

Such aggressive moves are usually viewed as attempts to prop up terrorist groups suffering defeats at the hands of Syrian government forces.

PressTV-Russia: Israel’s Syria strikes menace regional stability

Russia takes serious issue with the Israeli military aggression targeting Syria.

Israel used to be very careful with its operations over Syria after Russia equipped Damascus with the advanced S-300 surface-to-air missiles in October 2018.

However, US President Donald Trump's decision to recognize “Israeli sovereignty” over the Syrian territories of Golan Heights has seemingly emboldened Tel Aviv to launch new aggression on the Arab country.