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Syria Says It Responded to Attack Over Damascus

Associated Press

   DAMASCUS, SYRIA - Syria's air defenses responded late Saturday to
   "hostile" targets over Damascus, shooting down all incoming missiles
   before they reached their targets, state media reported, while Israel
   said its air force struck several targets southeast of the capital.
   State TV did not give further details about the Israeli attack, which
   occurred shortly before midnight.
   An Israeli military spokesman,AvichayAdraee, tweeted that warplanes
   struck several targets in the village ofAqraba, southeast of Damascus.
   He said the strikes aimed to abort a "terrorist attack" that Iran's
   Quds Force, an elite wing of the Revolutionary Guard, and other Shiite
   militias were planning to carry out against Israeli targets.
   Israel frequently conducts airstrikes and missile attacks inside
   war-torn Syria but rarely confirms them. Israel says it targets mostly
   bases of Iranian forces and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in
   Syria.
   The last such attack occurred Aug. 1, when Syria said Israel carried
   out a missile attack in the country's south, causing material damage.

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