Syria: Israeli strikes hit province of Homs, causing fires

BEIRUT: Suspected Israeli airstrikes targeted the Syrian province of Homs early Saturday, state media reported.

Syria's state news agency, SANA, said the country's air defences responded to Israeli missiles in the sky over Homs and shot down some of them. It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties.

The pro-government Sham FM radio said fires broke out south of the city of Homs as a result of the strikes and "successive explosions sounded from the area." The Britain-based opposition war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Israeli missiles had destroyed an ammunition depot belonging to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah at a military airport in the countryside of Homs.

The observatory said it was the second time Israel targeted the site in a month. On April 2, state media reported Israeli airstrikes hit several sites in Homs, wounding five soldiers. The observatory said two Hezbollah members were killed in the earlier attack.

There was no immediate statement from Israeli authorities on the strikes.

Israel, which has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment next door, has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in government-controlled parts of neighbouring Syria in recent years but rarely acknowledges them.

Earlier this year, suspected Israeli strikes in Syria intensified, culminating in an exchange on the border on April 8, when the Israeli military said its forces attacked targets in Syria after six rockets were launched from southern Syria toward the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

On Monday, Syrian pro-government media said Israel shelled targets in southern Syria near the Golan Heights, causing unspecified material damage.