Conflicting Reports on Explosion in Syrian Positions on Golan

By Dov Benovadia

YERUSHALAYIM – An explosion struck a southern Syrian town Wednesday and there are conflicting reports on the cause of the blast.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says an IDF warplane targeted a building in the southern town of Baath, on the edge of the Golan Heights.

The Observatory didn’t say how it knew it was an Israeli warplane. Israeli warplanes and artillery have struck southern Syria in the past.

Syrian sources confirmed that a base at Quneitra was hit, but denied that it was an Israeli attack, instead blaming rebel groups.

It was not immediately clear what the exact target of the strike might have been, but rebels operating in the region say the Hizbullah Lebanese terror group also has a presence there.

The IDF had no immediate comment.

The Military Media of Lebanon’s Hizbullah group claimed that the blast was caused by two rockets fired by members of al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syrian, the Nusra Front.

Later, Hizbullah’s Al-Manar channel said Syrian government troops retaliated, hitting a Nusra Front vehicle from which the rockets were fired.

On Sunday, sources reported that a Syrian drone had strayed into Israeli airspace. An initial investigation indicated that the IDF attempted to fire several anti-aircraft Patriot missiles, but the launches failed to reach the target. The Israeli attack Tuesday could have been in response to that drone dispatch, the foreign sources reported.