Explosions heard in Damascus, planes overhead

(Image from Google Maps)

Explosions were heard in Damascus early Thursday as planes flew overhead, AFP’s correspondent in the Syrian capital said.

The official SANA news agency said Syrian anti-aircraft defenses intercepted Israeli missiles, “which were shot down one after the other.”

A subsequent state media report, citing a military source, indicated that the Syrian army shot down dozens of Israeli missiles launched at Syria, as tensions escalated in the region.

“Dozens of missiles were shot down in Syrian airspace by anti-aircraft systems,” the official SANA news agency said, without specifying if the missiles were aimed at the Syrian capital, where explosions were earlier heard.

“Israel was aiming to destroy anti-aircraft defenses and radar,” SANA added.

Another succeeding state media report said that Israeli missiles destroyed a radar of Syria.        /kga