Syria responds to Israeli attack over capital Damascus

Syria's air defenses responded late Saturday to "hostile" targets over Damascus, shooting down all incoming missiles before they reached their targets, state media reported, while Israel said its air force struck several targets southeast of the capital.

State TV did not give further details about the Israeli attack that struck shortly before midnight.

An Israeli military spokesman, Avichay Adraee, tweeted that warplanes struck several targets in the village of Aqraba southeast of Damascus.

He said the strikes aimed to abort a "terrorist attack" that Iran's Quds Force, an elite wing of the Revolutionary Guard, and other Shia militias were planning to carry out against Israeli targets.

Israel frequently conducts airstrikes and missile attacks inside war-torn Syria but rarely confirms them.

Israel says it targets mostly bases of Iranian forces and the Lebanese militant group Hizballah in Syria.

The last such attack occurred August 1, when Syria said Israel carried out a missile attack in the country's south, causing material damage.

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