Syrian Air Defenses Engage Hostile Targets Over Homs Province, State Media Reveals

According to social media reports, Syrian anti-aircraft defenses engaged several inbound targets over Homs Governorate shortly before midnight on Wednesday.

Syrian air defense systems were reported firing at unknown targets in the skies above Palmyra, the ancient city in Homs Governorate about 130 miles east of Damascus.

Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) later clarified, citing a military source, that the strikes targeted a communications tower and the area around it and succeeded in causing "material losses." SANA also reported that one Syrian Arab Army solider was killed in the strike and three others were wounded.

Missiles were also reportedly seen over At-Tanf, the US garrison about 80 miles to the south, near where the Jordanian, Iraqi, and Syrian borders meet. Other reports indicated that a Syrian radar station near Al-Bukamal, in Deir-ez-Zor, also spotted inbound missiles over At-Tanf.

While initial reports suggested the attack might have been Israeli airstrikes, At-Tanf is harder for Israeli Air Force jets to reach, which typically strike Syrian targets from the west, firing their missiles over Lebanon or off the Mediterranean coast. However, airstrikes were also launched several days ago from the area of At-Tanf, targeting Tiyas (T4) Air Base to the west of Palmyra. Syrian air defenses took down most of the projectiles. The Israel Defense Forces did not claim responsibility for that attack.

The US has also launched several airstrikes in Syria in recent weeks, since the collapse of the US-backed government in Afghanistan, as the Biden administration looks to reframe its war on terror into chasing down al-Qaeda* in other countries, including Syria and Yemen. However, they have mostly been in Idlib, where the al-Qaeda-linked force Hay'at Tahrir ash-Sham* holds sway with Turkish backing.

*Al-Qaeda, Hay'at Tahrir ash-Sham (also known as al-Nusra Front) - terrorist groups banned in many countries