Report: Syrian air defense intercepts Israeli missile strike on airport

BEIRUT – Syrian state media said a military airport near Homs had come under missile attack which was repelled by its air defense systems on Thursday.

“One of our military airports in the central region was exposed to hostile missile aggression, and our air defense systems confronted the attack and prevented it from achieving its aim,” state news agency SANA said.

SANA earlier reported sounds of explosions heard near the Dabaa airport, about 12 miles southwest of the central Syrian city of Homs and 6 miles from the Lebanese border.

Syrian bas Dabaa next to Homs reported it came under air attack speculation on social media now; maps pic.twitter.com/qu5glgObmZ

— Seth Frantzman (@sfrantzman) May 24, 2018

Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Kone Faulkner, when asked about reports of the attack, said the US-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria did not carry it out and the coalition does not target Syrian government positions.

British-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops belonging to Hezbollah and other militias allied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are stationed in the Dabaa military airport. It had no information on casualties.

Lebanese sources stated that Israeli military aircraft were spotted above Beirut. According to additional Lebanese reports the Syrian air defense system shot down an Israeli fighter jet using an S200 missile.

Syrian reports also support the claim that the air defense system intercepted missiles launched by Israeli fighter jets.

#BreakingNews #Syria#SyrianArmy air defenses repelled missile attack on one of its airbases (al-Dab’a) in #Homs countryside pic.twitter.com/J8kpAACLKu

— zahraa alderzi (@zahraaalderzi) May 24, 2018

Eyewitness reports claim that fires are raging in the area outside the Dabaa airport.

Reports from the Syrian opposition point to an Israeli attack on a Syrian Revolutionary Guard air missile base at the Dabaa airport west of Homs, by the Lebanese border.

A top officer in the Syrian opposition estimated that four missiles destroyed the air defense systems. According to reports, there are a number of dead and wounded.

An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment.

In recent months Israel has carried out several airstrikes in Syria, targeting Iranian and Iranian-linked targets.  Israeli leaders have repeatedly asserted that Jerusalem would not allow Iran to gain a foothold in southern Syria.

This is a developing story.