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Monitor: Israeli Airstrikes Hit Syrian Targets South of Damascus

by Agence France-Presse

   Israel struck several positions south of Damascus, a war monitor said
   Friday, in the first strikes since Syrian air defenses were upgraded
   following the accidental downing of a Russian plane in September.

   Damascus claimed its air defense systems shot down all "hostile
   targets" late Thursday. Israel did not confirm carrying out raids but
   denied any losses.

   [1]According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the strikes
   hit two positions in the south of Damascus province, including an area
   believed to be an Iranian weapons depot near the capital.

   "Israeli forces bombarded for an hour," Observatory chief Rami Abdel
   Rahman said.

   Two missiles hit "weapons depots belonging to the Lebanese Hezbollah
   [militant group] as well as Iranian forces" in Kisweh.

   Another missile hit the area of Harfa, where there is a Syrian military
   base, the Britain-based monitor said.

   In Kisweh, "the depots that were targeted are used to temporarily store
   rockets until they are taken somewhere else," Abdel Rahman said.

   "It appears the Israelis had intelligence that weapons had arrived
   there recently," he said.

References

   1. http://www.syriahr.com/en/?p=107839