Syrian opposition: Israeli jets bomb missile launchers in Latakia

Israeli fighter planes bombarded S-300 missile launchers in the Syrian port city of Latakia late Sunday, Syrian opposition groups were quoted as saying by Israel's Channel 2 television. Residents of the city reported hearing loud explosions just around midnight. Opposition sources are quoted as saying that the explosion took place in the Sheikh Dahar neighborhood just near the local port, Channel 2 reported. The claims by the opposition have not been confirmed by any official sources. Israel has on numerous occasions been fingered as responsible for attacks on Syrian military targets during the two-year long uprising against the Assad regime. In October, a US official said that Israel conducted air raids against a Syrian missile base near Latakia. The official, speaking to CNN, said Israel targeted missiles and related equipment out of concern that they would be transferred to Hezbollah. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which collates reports from opposition activists, said there had been an explosion at a Syrian air defense base near Jableh, in the Mediterranean coastal province of Latakia. The Latakia area is an Alawite and regime stronghold. Israel has repeatedly warned that it is prepared to use force to prevent advanced weapons, particularly from Iran, reaching Hezbollah through Syria. According to foreign reports, Israel reportedly carried out several air strikes on Syria earlier this year. In September, Israel was believed responsible for an attack on an arms depot in Latakia that killed between 10 and 20 Syrian troops. The Israeli government has consistently denied involvement in the Syrian civil war. “For a long time we have continued to say that we are not involving ourselves in the bloody civil war in Syria," Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said this past fall. "We have established our red lines and we are sticking to them.”