Syria’s air defence forces downed 22 missiles launched by Israeli warplanes during an airstrike against targets in Syria, the Russian military said Friday.

Air Marshal Vadim Kulit, head of the Russian military’s Reconciliation Center in Syria, said six Israeli fighter jets targeted facilities in the provinces of Damascus and Homs from Lebanon’s airspace late Thursday.

Culit said Syrian air defence units shot down 22 of the 24 missiles fired by Israeli warplanes with Pantsir-S and Buk-M2 air defence systems supplied by Russia. 

Lebanese media also reported that two missiles fell in the Qalamoun region on the rugged border between Lebanon and Syria, though it was unclear if the projectiles were from the alleged airstrikes or errant interceptors.

There has been no immediate reaction from Israel, which rarely comments on its military operations in Syria.

Similarly, there were no official reports of casualties, but a British-based military war monitor said that the strikes killed four pro-Iranian fighters allied to the Damascus regime. 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the Israeli missiles targeted “arms depots and military positions” belonging to Lebanese Shiite terror group Hezbollah, in the Qarah area in the northwest of Damascus province, near Homs province and the Lebanese border.

Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria in the course of the country’s civil war, targeting what it says are suspected arms shipments believed to be bound for Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, which is fighting alongside Syrian government forces. It rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.

Russia has waged a military campaign in Syria since 2015, helping President Bashar Assad’s government reclaim control over most of the country after a devastating civil war. Moscow also has helped modernize Syria’s military arsenals and train its personnel.

Source: Times of Israel

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