According to the Syrian army, Israeli fighter jets have attacked the main T4 airbase in Homs province.
An army spokesman told state media on Tuesday that four Israeli missiles did reach the base but said air defences intercepted and destroyed several others. He also added that its air defences downed several missiles in an attack that caused material damage.
There were no casualties in the attack which occurred at about 10 pm (20:00 GMT), according to state news agency SANA.
“The Israeli air force conducted new aerial aggression and immediately our air defences confronted the enemy missiles,” an army statement said.
“The Israeli airforce conducted new aerial aggression and immediately our air defences confronted the enemy missiles,” an army statement said.
The Syrian army statement said the Israeli war jets flew from Tanf to the southeast, where the United States has set up a base near the Iraqi-Jordanian border.
Tanf lies on the strategic Damascus-Baghdad highway, a major supply route for Iranian weapons into Syria. This makes the base a bulwark against Iran and part of a larger U.S. campaign against Iranian influence in Iraq and Syria.
The Israel Defence Force did not immediately comment on the attack.
Syrian state television initially did not say who was behind the attack on the major airbase, located some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the city of Palmyra. Israel accuses the base of hosting an Iranian military presence and has targeted it several times in recent years.
The Tanf base is seen by the US as a bulwark against Iran and part of its campaign against Iranian influence in Iraq and Syria because it lies on the strategic Damascus-Baghdad highway, a major supply route for Iranian weapons into Syria.
Tuesday’s strikes are the first which Syria accused Israel of undertaking since the United States killed Iran’s most
the powerful military commander in a drone strike on Jan. 3, sparking one of the biggest escalations between Tehran and Washington since 1979.
