The Israel Defense Force late Thursday night denied reports by the Syrian government claiming its aerial defense systems have shot down an IAF warplane.
Syria’s official SANA news agency reported the Israel Air Force targeted Iranian military sites near Damascus in Syria late Thursday night in al-Kiswah. According to the Al-Arabiya news site, the Israel Air Force targeted a number of Iranian military bases and weapons depots.
Syria claimed the country’s anti-missile systems “downed an Israeli military plane as well as four missiles… Our air defense systems repelled an attack by several enemy targets over the Al-Kiswah area in the south of the country and shot them down.”
Last week IDF sources said security personnel reported the presence of some 20,000 Iranian-trained Syrian armed forces in the Syrian Golan Heights, possibly preparing for a conflict with Israel.
Al-Kiswah, south of has been home to at least one facility for at least 2yrs.
Satellite imagery from late-2017 showed an expansive facility, which itself was hit by in December 2017.
Air defense fire is *still* ongoing – this is a serious escalation. pic.twitter.com/vP3OhzbBjH
— Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister)
In addition, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit reported shortly after the start of the attack in Syria that Israeli aerial defense systems identified at least one Syrian missile heading towards an open area of the Golan Heights.
Israeli military forces were deployed to search the area for exploded or fallen ordnance.