An Obama administration official told AP that the attack happened overnight on Thursday, but provided no details. Another security official told the news agency that it took place in the Syrian port city of Latakia, and that the targets were Russian-made SA-125 missiles.
Another US official told CNN that the Israelis believed the base near Snobar Jableh, south of Latakia, had sensitive and sophisticated missile equipment that may have been transferred to the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah.
Earlier, Dubai-based broadcaster al-Arabiya reported two attacks carried out by the Israeli Air Forces – one in Latakia and the other one in Damascus.
Neither the Syrian nor Israeli governments have commented on the alleged attacks.
A spokesman for the Israeli Defense Ministry declined to speak on the matter.
"We're not commenting on these reports," he told Reuters.
However, an Israeli official speaking anonymously to the news agency said he was inclined to believe that Israel had carried out a strike, although he was not entirely certain.
The Lebanese military said it observed six Israeli jets flying over Lebanese territory on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Israeli jets frequently fly over Lebanon, but such high numbers have in the past been an indication of a military strike against Syria.
Earlier in the day, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said there was a series of explosions at a Syrian air defense base in the Mediterranean coastal province of Latakia.
"Several explosions were heard in an air defense base in the Snubar Jableh area," SOHR director Rami Abdel Rahman said, adding that the reason for the blasts remains “unclear.”
No casualties have been reported.
Meanwhile, a Syrian security source said that "a rocket fell near the base, causing a fire to break out," AFP reported.
However, RT Arabic’s source within the Syrian security forces has denied the media reports.
Ammar al-Asad, head of the foreign affairs committee within the Syrian National Council, said in an interview with RT that "In Latakia, we did not hear any sounds, incidents, or anything that can prove the attack happened."
rt.com
31/10/13
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Related:
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- СМИ: США подтвердили, что ВВС Израиля нанесли ракетный удар по военной базе в Сирии.....
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'White House official confirms Israeli attack on Syrian missile site'...
ReplyDeleteObama administration official confirms to CNN that Israel attacked missiles and equipment it felt might be transferred to Hezbollah; Al-Arabiya reports Israel destroyed SA-8 missiles in Damascus and Latakia.
Israel conducted air raids against a Syrian missile base near the port city of Latakia on Thursday night according to a leak by an anonymous US administration official, speaking to CNN.
The US official said that Israel targeted missiles and related equipment out of fear that they would be transferred to Hezbollah.
It is unclear why the US would leak such information as it could put more pressure on Syria to retaliate against Israel.................http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Israel-struck-two-sites-in-Syria-destroying-surface-to-air-missiles-330301
31/10/13
Μαχητικά του Ισραήλ βομβάρδισαν συριακό έδαφος....
ReplyDeleteΤο Ισραήλ βομβάρδισε μία αεροπορική βάση κοντά στη Λαττάκεια, στη βορειοδυτική Συρία, στοχεύοντας στην καταστροφή ενός φορτίου με πυραύλους που είχε αποδέκτη τη λιβανική σιιτική οργάνωση Χεζμπολάχ, μετέδωσε σήμερα το δίκτυο Αλ Αραμπίγια.
Την είδηση επιβεβαίωσαν οι Σύροι αντάρτες και Αμερικανός αξιωματούχος, σύμφωνα με το αμερικανικό τηλεοπτικό δίκτυο CNN, αλλά το Ισραήλ αρνήθηκε να επιβεβαιώσει το χτύπημα.
«Κατά το παρελθόν, τέτοιοι στόχοι ήταν πύραυλοι με αποδέκτη τη Χεζμπολάχ», τόνισε η αμερικανική πηγή.
Επικαλούμενο «αποκλειστικές πηγές», το αραβόφωνο δίκτυο μετέδωσε πως «ένας βομβαρδισμός που είχε στόχο ένα φορτίο με πυραύλους εδάφους-αέρος, που προορίζονταν για τη Χεζμπολάχ στον Λίβανο», η οποία μάχεται στο πλευρό των συριακών δυνάμεων κατά των ανταρτών.
Το CNN από την πλευρά του, επικαλούμενο μη κατονομαζόμενη πηγή της αμερικανικής κυβέρνησης, επεσήμανε πως την επίθεση πραγματοποίησαν ισραηλινά μαχητικά αεροσκάφη, λαμβάνοντας ως στόχο τους πυραύλους και όποιον άλλο εξοπλισμό θεώρησαν πως επρόκειτο να παραδοθεί στη Χεζμπολάχ.
Νωρίτερα η ΜΚΟ Συριακό Παρατηρητήριο Ανθρωπίνων Δικαιωμάτων είχε κάνει λόγο για πολλές εκρήξεις που είχαν σημειωθεί τις πρώτες πρωϊνές ώρες χθες σε βάση αντιαεροπορικής άμυνας στο Σόναρ Τζαμπλέ, κοντά στη Λαττάκεια.
http://www.zougla.gr/kosmos/article/maxitika-tou-israil-vomvardisan-siriako-edafos
31/10/13
‘Turkey behind strike on Latakia airbase in Syria’.....
ReplyDeleteLebanese TV station says Ankara carried out attack Wednesday in response to downed Turkish jet last year; Jerusalem mum on reports.
A report by Lebanon’s MTV Thursday cited Turkey as being behind the Wednesday attack in Latakia, Syria, which reportedly targeted “missiles and related equipment” meant for Lebanese terror group Hezbollah. The report, according to Israel Radio, is said to be based on Israeli officials who allegedly claimed the attack came in response to the June 2012 interception of a Turkish jet, which Syrian forces shot down. The pilots were subsequently killed. The report could not be independently confirmed.
On Thursday, an Obama administration official confirmed that Israeli warplanes had, in fact, attacked an airbase in Latakia on Wednesday. Israel has so far remained tight-lipped over the alleged strike.......http://www.timesofisrael.com/turkey-behind-syria-strike-on-hezbollah-bound-missiles/
1/11/3
Israel declines to confirm it attacked Syria ...
ReplyDeleteIsrael said it would not allow advanced weapons to fall into the hands of Hezbollah, after a raid on Syria that opposition sources said had hit an air force garrison believed to be holding Russian-made missiles destined for the group.
Israel has a clear policy on Syria and will continue to enforce it, officials said on Friday, after U.S. sources said Israel had launched a new attack on its warring neighbour.
Israel declined to comment on leaks to U.S. media that its planes had hit a Syrian base near the port of Latakia, targeting missiles that it thought were destined for its Lebanese enemy, Hezbollah.
"We have said many times that we will not allow the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah," said Home Front Defence Minister Gilad Erdan, a member of the inner security cabinet which met hours before the alleged Israeli attack.
"We are sticking to this policy and I say so without denying or confirming this report," he told Israel Radio.
Israel is believed to have attacked targets in Syria on at least four occasions this year, the last time in July, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying he would not let sophisticated anti-aircraft, anti-ship and long-range missiles move from the hands of Syria to its Hezbollah ally.
A Latakia activist told Reuters that an explosion had rocked a garrison area that houses an air force brigade loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad near Snobar Jableh village mid-afternoon on Oct. 30.
Ambulance sirens were heard rushing to the scene, however, the activist, who calls himself Khaled, said there was a "total media blackout" about the incident.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights quoted sources as saying there were four or five explosions at the base, but only limited damage reported. Al-Arabiya news network said SAM 8 anti-aircraft missiles were destroyed.
Former Syrian intelligence agent Afaq Ahmad, a defector now in exile in France, told Reuters on Thursday that contacts of his inside Syria, including in Latakia province, told him Russian-made ballistic missiles had been kept at the site that was attacked.
Israel deliberately remains silent over its actions in Syria to keep a lid on tensions and try to avoid pushing Assad into a corner where he would feel compelled to respond.
Locals said they did not hear warplanes at the time of the blasts and there was initial confusion about who was behind the attack. One source, who declined to be named, said the limited damage on the ground suggested pin-point missile strikes.
A foreign diplomat said that in the past the Israelis had succeeded in creating such confusion by using stand-off ordnance -- missiles or gliding bombs that can be released many miles from the target.
There was clear irritation in Israel about the U.S. leaks, which analysts said might signal irritation in Washington over Israeli action at a time when Syria had bowed to international pressure and was dismantling its large chemical weapons arsenal.
"Washington is selling our secrets on the cheap," said top-selling Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth.....http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=121977
1/11/13