Report: ‘Enemy’ missiles attack Syrian military base

Large explosions were heard in central Syria at a military base that reportedly came under “enemy” fire.

By: AP

Late Thursday, Syrian TV reported a military base in central Syria came under attack from “enemy” fire and that Syrian air defenses confronted a missile attack. It did not give additional details.

Minutes earlier, SANA reported loud explosions at Dabaa airbase in Homs province.

Syria’s government forces have relied on support from the Lebanese group Hezbollah and other regional militias, organized by Iran to wage war on Syrian rebels and IS militants.

Their reach in Syria has alarmed the Trump administration in Washington and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in Tel Aviv, which say that Iran’s expansive networks in the war-torn country threaten Israel.

Netanyahu has warned repeatedly Israel will not allow Iran to threaten Israel from Syria. The Israeli military is believed to be behind dozens of airstrikes in recent years against Hezbollah, Iran and Syrian military positions.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, days after President Donald Trump revoked America’s participation in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, has threatened Iran with the “strongest sanctions in history” unless Tehran withdraws all its forces from Syria and terminates its support for Hezbollah.

Iran has dismissed those threats, saying its forces are in Syria at the invitation of President Bashar Assad’s government.

The strikes targeted “movements” of pro-government forces, near the T2 oil pumping station, the Observatory said.

Earlier this month, Israel bombed Iranian military positions in Syria in what it said was retaliation for Iranian strikes on the Golan Heights. Israel called it its most serious operation in Syria since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.