The Israeli military declined to comment.Īlthough Israeli strikes in the last few years have targeted many parts of Syria, they have rarely hit Latakia which is close to Russia's main air base of Hmeimim.Ī senior military defector said the Israeli raid struck several areas in the town of Jabla in northwestern Latakia province, a bastion of Syrian President Bashar al Assad's minority Alawite sect that dominates the army and security forces.Īssad comes from Qerdaha, a village in the Alawite Mountains 28 km (17 miles) southeast of Latakia, where his father, the late President Hafez al-Assad, is buried. State media earlier reported the Israeli attack also hit the town of Hifa, east of Latakia, and Misyaf in Hama province.

'Our aerial defences intercepted the aggressors missiles and downed some of them,' the army communique said. One civilian was killed and six injured in one of the strikes that the army said hit a civilian plastics factory. AMMAN, May 5 (Reuters) - Syrian air defences downed several Israeli missiles during pre-dawn raids on the Mediterranean port city of Latakia, the Syrian army said on Wednesday, a rare attack on the ancestral home region of the Syrian leader and close to a Russian air base.Ī Syrian army statement said aerial strikes soon after 2am hit several areas along the south west coast of Latakia.

Latakia by J.F. Smith