Syrian air defense intercepted an Israeli missile near the capital Damascus, the official SANA news agency reported on Wednesday (April 27th). “Our anti-aircraft defense faced an Israeli aggression over the suburbs of Damascus”, SANA said, without providing further details. AFP correspondents in Damascus said they heard loud explosions.
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Since the start of the war in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in its neighbor, targeting positions of the Syrian army, Iranian forces and Lebanese Hezbollah. Israel rarely comments on its strikes against Syria but says it will not allow Iran to expand its influence in Syria. Triggered by the repression of pro-democracy demonstrations, the war in Syria has claimed around 500,000 lives, devastated the country’s infrastructure and displaced millions of people.