MOSCOW (AP) – Syrian air defense forces have fired 22 missiles fired by Israeli warplanes during an airstrike on targets in Syria, the Russian military said Friday.
Co-administrator Vadim Kulit, head of the Russian Army Reconciliation Center in Syria, said six Israeli fighter jets were headed to facilities in Damascus and Homs provinces from Lebanon airspace on Thursday past.
Kulit said Syrian air defense units shot down 22 of the 24 missiles fired by Israeli warplanes with Russia-supplied Pantsyr-S and Buk-M2 air defense systems.
There was no immediate reaction from Israel, which rarely comments on its military operations in Syria.
Kulit’s statement followed a report by the Syrian state news agency SANA that Syrian air defense units responded to an Israeli air strike against the Damascus camp and the central province of Homs. Nor were any casualties reported immediately.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes inside Syria during the country’s civil war, addressing what it says is suspected of sending weapons to the Lebanese-backed militant group Hezbollah, which fighting alongside Syrian government forces. He rarely acknowledges or discusses these operations.
Russia has been waging a military campaign in Syria since 2015, helping the government of President Bashar Assad regain control of most of the country after a devastating civil war. Moscow has also helped modernize Syria’s military arsenals and train its personnel.