The Syrian military has accused Israel of firing several missiles at Damascus early on Thursday, causing property damage in the capital. The attack came at 1:20am and air defenses managed to shoot down at least some “hostile targets,” the state news agency SANA reported citing military sources.
Loud explosions could be heard over Damascus, but it was unclear where the missiles struck. There were reports of a fire in the Al-Midan neighborhood, a residential area in the south of the city. Other reports said the strike targeted the nearby Kafr Sousa municipality. At least two soldiers were wounded in the attack in addition to some “material damage,” according to SANA. Earlier reports also noted that ambulances were sent to the scene.
According to SANA, the missiles came from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Thursday’s attack comes a week after Israel targeted the airport in Aleppo, damaging the runway and taking it out of service for two days.
Israel has carried out hundreds of air and missile strikes on Syrian territory since 2011, but rarely acknowledges them. On the occasions that the Israel Defense Forces comment on the attacks, they claim to be hitting Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria in pre-emptive self-defense. Damascus has repeatedly protested the raids as a violation of Syrian sovereignty, to no avail.