Syria Says It Repelled Missile Attack on Airport Near Homs

Syrian state media claimed that a military airport near Homs city had come under a missile attack which was repelled by its air defense systems on Thursday.

“One of our military airports in the central region was exposed to a hostile missile attack, and our air defense systems confronted the attack and prevented it from achieving its aim,” state news agency SANA said.

Some Lebanese news outlets said that Israeli fighter jets had crossed over Lebanese airspace en route to Syria.

However, an Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment.

SANA earlier reported sounds of explosions heard near the Dabaa airport, about 12 miles southwest of the central Syrian city of Homs and 6 miles from the Lebanese border.

Syrian state media did not comment on the origin of the missile attack.

Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops belonging to Hezbollah and other militias allied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are stationed in the Dabaa military airport. It had no information on casualties.

Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Kone Faulkner, when asked about reports of the attack, said the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria did not carry it out; and the coalition does not target Syrian government positions.