SANA: ‘Most Enemy Targets’ Intercepted

Syria Foils New Zionist Aggression

Date: 12 January 2019 - 21:45

News ID: ۶۱۹۴۵

DAMASCUS (Dispatches) -- Syrian air defense batteries opened fire on "missiles" near Damascus, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported Saturday, citing a military source.
The source said Syrian defenses intercepted most of the "enemy targets" and that only a warehouse at Damascus International airport was hit, according to SANA.
The Syrian military source said the attack came from the occupying regime of Israel.
"At 11:15, Israeli fighter jets fired several missiles towards the area of Damascus, and instantly, our air defenses confronted the missiles and downed most of them,” the source told SANA.
"The results of the assault were limited to the targeting of a warehouse at Damascus International Airport,” the source added.
In November 2018, Syrian state media reported that the country's air defenses shot down "hostile targets" flying over the town of Kisweh, just south of Damascus, and "were able to foil its goals" despite the "intensity of the aggression".
The state media outlets cited a military source as news of the strikes broke, but did not specify what exactly was shot down.
The Zionist regime has not responded to the allegations it was involved in that incident, but previous Israeli airstrikes inside Syrian territory have drawn criticism and recently caused tensions with Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
In September, a Russian transport aircraft was accidentally downed by Syrian ground batteries in a friendly-fire incident that Moscow blamed on the occupying regime of Israel.
The Russian government said the 17 September incident, in which 15 Russian crew members were killed, took place only because the Zionist regime was conducting airstrikes against Syrian targets at the time.
Russia subsequently upgraded Syrian air defenses with the delivery of the advanced S-300 system, which Damascus said last month would make the occupying regime of Israel "think carefully" before carrying out further air raids in Syria but the batteries have yet to become operational.
The Zionist regime launches airstrikes against from time to time in an attempt to prop up terrorist groups that have been suffering defeats at the hands of Syrian government forces.
On Saturday, artillery shelling by government forces pounded parts of the northwestern Idlib province Saturday, thwarting an infiltration attempt by militants as tension rises in the region following victories by Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists against Turkey-backed militants, SANA reported.
SANA said the shelling focused on the areas of Zarzour near the border with Turkey and Tamanaa near Maaret al-Numan that was taken this week by Al-Qaeda-linked Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from Turkey-backed militants. It reported casualties among the militants.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the government shelled six areas in and near Idlib province.
Earlier this month, members of HTS took over control of Idlib province and the surrounding countryside after forcing rival terrorists to accept a deal for an  administration run by HTS in their areas.
The developments threaten to derail a ceasefire in the area reached in September between Turkey and Russia that averted a Syrian army operation in Idlib.
The deal required militant groups to vacate a frontline buffer zone, a move that was never implemented by HTS militants.
Earlier Saturday, Turkey's defense minister met with commanders and the head of the country's intelligence services in the southern Hatay province bordering Syria's restive Idlib.
"All efforts are being made to continue stability and the ceasefire in line with the Sochi agreement," said Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, referring to a September agreement between Turkey and Russia to set up a buffer zone in Idlib. "Our close cooperation with Russia on this issue continues," the minister said.
Turkey's official Anadolu news agency said Turkish troops dispatched from units across the country were undergoing training at the border in Hatay.
The Syrian government has repeatedly threatened to launch an offensive to recapture Idlib province.
The latest advances by the HTS, which include many foreign militants, raise questions over the future of the deal.