Amman – Syria’s air defense forces shot down an Israeli war plane and four missiles on Thursday, Russia’s RIA news agency said citing a Syrian security source, but Israel’s military said the report was bogus.
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The source said the missiles aimed at the town of Kiswah, south of the capital Damascus, were struck before they reached their targets.
The area where the incident is said to have occurred is where Hezbollah, a group backed by Iran, has its communications and logistics hub for southern Syria near the Israeli border, according to two senior regional intelligence sources.
Israel is concerned that Iran’s growing presence in Syria poses a threat to its own security and has struck dozens of Iranian and Iran-backed positions in Syria over the course of the country’s seven-year conflict.
The Israel Defence Forces said in a statement on Twitter: “In the course of Syrian ground-to-air missile fire, (Israel’s) air defences sighted a single trajectory toward an open area of the Golan Heights.”
“At this stage it remains unclear whether there was indeed an impact in our territory. Our forces are scouring the area. Furthermore, the report about a strike on an Israeli aircraft or an Israeli aerial target are bogus,” said the statement.
Earlier, Syrian state media said Syrian air defenses shot down “hostile targets” flying over the town of Kiswah.
A Syrian opposition figure familiar with the area said its proximity to the Syrian Golan Heights made it a hub for the recruitment of Iranian-backed militias and their deployment across the strategic border area with Israel.
“Israel has targeted this area because the Syrian army barracks there have become a recruiting ground for Hezbollah and their militias to deploy in Quneitra,” Said Seif told Reuters.
Iran is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and supports a number of militias that have fought alongside the Syrian army and its allies.
Tehran has in recent months expanded its military presence in southern Syria after insurgents were driven out with Hezbollah, by far the biggest of the Iranian-backed militias expanding its foothold there, according to regional security sources.