Beirut (AFP) – Repeated explosions were heard in the surrounding area Syrian State media and Damascus residents said the capital was killed before dawn on Sunday.
There was no immediate statement from government officials on the source or target of the attack. Similar incidents in the past are usually attributed to Israeli airstrikes, as Syrian air defenses responded to shoot down missiles.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based opposition war monitor, said the blast came from a warehouse storing missiles for Iranian-backed militias, though it could not confirm whether it was an Israeli strike. The Observatory said it was still not clear if anyone was injured or killed in the blast.
The latest reported Israeli attack On August 7, when Syrian state media reported airstrikes in areas around Damascus, killing at least four Syrian soldiers. The Observatory said the strikes targeted weapons and ammunition depots and sites of Iranian-backed militias around Damascus.
Israel, which has vowed to stop Iran’s entrenchment in its neighbor, has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in government-held areas of Syria in recent years, but it rarely acknowledges it.
Israel has also targeted international airports in Damascus and the northern Syrian city of Aleppo several times over the past few years, often disrupting them.