Syrian air defence responds to Israeli strikes over Damascus

Damascus, Feb 6 (IANS) Syria's air defence on Thursday responded to fresh Israeli missile strikes over the capital Damascus.The missiles, launched from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, targeted areas west of Damascus, Xinhua news agency reported citing state TV as saying.The Israeli strikes targeted military sites in the Kisweh area, Marj Al-Sultan and Jisr Baghdad, and the Syrian air defence intercepted several missiles, it said.According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, the strikes targeted Iranian-backed forces in the Kisweh area, brigade 75 in the west of Damascus, the Mazzeh military airbase and Syria's Scientific Studies Center.Throughout the Syrian crisis, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes against Iranian targets, as well as convoys transporting weapons to the Shia militant group Hezbollah, a Lebanese militia allegedly backed by Tehran.
--IANS ksk/