Syria accused Israeli jets of bombing two installations inside the country on Sunday, one near the capital Damascus and the second in a town near the Lebanese border.
The report by Syrian state television described the attack as “an aggression” against the wartorn state and said the air raids had occurred near Damascus’s international airport and in the town of Dimas.
“The Israeli enemy attacked Syria by targeting two safe areas in Damascus province, namely the Dimas area and the area of Damascus International Airport,” said SANA, the Syrian state news agency, adding that no casualties were reported.
There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials.
Speculation in the immediate aftermath suggested that the target of the strikes might have been advanced Russian-made S300 surface-to-air missiles.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group that monitors the country’s civil war through a network of activists on the ground, said the strike near the Damascus airport hit a warehouse, although it was unclear what was in the building.
The Observatory also said that around 10 explosions could be heard outside a military area near Dimas. It had no word on casualties in either strike.
Israel has carried out several airstrikes in Syria since the revolt against president Bashar Assad began in March 2011. While Israel has tried to stay out of the war in neighbouring Syria, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly threatened to take military action to prevent Syria from transferring sophisticated weapons to its ally Hezbollah.
In June, Israel struck targets inside Syria, including a military installation, following a cross-border attack that killed an Israeli teenager. Israel said at the time that it had struck nine military targets inside its northern neighbour and had confirmed “direct hits”.
Images that circulated after the reported attack showed trails from anti-aircraft systems above Damascus and a large explosion in Dimas.
