Israeli warplanes struck areas in and around the Syrian capital, setting off a series of explosions as they targeted a shipment of highly accurate, Iranian-made guided missiles believed to be on their way to Lebanon's Hezbollah group, officials and activists said.
Syria's state media on Sunday reported that Israeli missiles struck a military and scientific research centre near the Syrian capital and caused casualties.
The attack, the second in three days, signaled a sharp escalation of Israel's involvement in Syria's civil war.
"The new Israeli attack is an attempt to raise the morale of the terrorist groups which have been reeling from strikes by our noble army," Syrian television said, referring to recent offensives by the forces of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, against the armed opposition.
A Western intelligence source confirmed the attack to The Associated Press, saying the target of Sunday's strike was a shiptment of advanced guided Iranian-made missiles, believed to be on their way to Lebanon's group Hezbollah.
Video footage uploaded onto the internet by activists showed a huge ball of fire rising into the night sky.
Later on Sunday, the Syrian government condemned the airstrikes, saying the attacks aim "to give direct military support to terrorist groups" fighting the government.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry also said in a letter sent to the United Nations and the UN Security Council that the "Israeli aggression" killed and wounded several people and "cause widespread distruction".
'Felt like an earthquake'
read more http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/05/20135502043908700.html
Michael D. Shoesmith
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