Repeated blasts heard near Syrian air base-resident, TV channel

State media maintains that explosions occurred at the munitions camp due an electrical problem

BEIRUT: Loud blasts were heard from the direction of Syria's Mezzeh military air base near Damascus early on Sunday, a resident of the city and a pro-Syrian government Lebanese television channel reported.

Syria has previously accused Israel of targeting the base, which Israel has not specifically confirmed though it has acknowledged carrying out air strikes in Syria.



Later, Syrian state media said blasts heard from the direction of a military air base near Damascus early on Sunday were caused by an explosion at a munitions dump due to an electrical problem, not by Israeli strikes.



The state media quoted a Syrian military source as saying, "Mezzeh air base has not been exposed to any Israeli aggression." Earlier an official in the regional alliance supporting Damascus said blasts were caused by missile strikes targeting the base and by Syrian air defence systems responding.

A war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the
explosions resulted from Israeli air strikes, and that they
caused deaths and injuries.