Israel launches missile attacks on Syrian capital

Damascus: Israel launched missile attacks on military sites in the Syrian capital of Damascus, the Syrian national TV reported.

The missile attacks took place on Friday midnight, Xinhua news agency reported.

The report said the Syrian air defences were triggered by the attacks, shooting down a number of the Israeli missiles. Explosions were heard at Damascus.

The attacks also targeted the southern countryside of Damascus, the report said, without providing further details.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the attacks targeted the countryside of Damascus and the Sayyida Zainab area, where Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based Shia movement and party, is present.