Israel in strike at Russian missiles in Syria

It was a development that threatened to add another volatile layer to regional tensions from the Syrian civil war.

The revelation came as the government of President Bashar Assad met a key deadline in an ambitious plan to eliminate Syria’s entire chemical weapons stockpile by mid-2014 and avoid international military action.

An Obama administration official confirmed the Israeli airstrike, but provided no details.

Another security official said the attack occurred late on Wednesday in the Syrian port city of Latakia and that the target was Russian-made SA-125 missiles.

There was no immediate confirmation from Syria.

Since the civil war in Syria began in March 2011, Israel has carefully avoided taking sides, but
has struck shipments of missiles inside Syria at least twice this 
year.

The Syrian military, overstretched by the civil war, has not retaliated, and it was not clear whether the embattled Syrian leader would choose to take action this time.

Assad may decide to again let the Israeli attack slide, particularly when his army has the upper hand on the battlefield inside Syria.

Israel has repeatedly declared a series of red lines that could trigger Israeli military intervention, including the delivery of “game-changing” weapons to the Syrian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah group.

Israel has never officially confirmed taking action inside Syria to avoid embarrassing Assad and sparking a potential response.

But foreign officials say it has done so several times when Israeli intelligence discovered that sophisticated missiles were on the move.

In January, an Israeli airstrike in Syria destroyed a shipment of advanced anti-aircraft missiles bound for Hezbollah, according to US officials.

And in May, it was said to have acted again, taking out a shipment of Iranian-made 
Fateh-110 missiles at a Damascus airport.

Syrian activists and opposition groups reported strong explosions on Wednesday night that appeared to come from inside an air defence facility in Latakia. They said the cause of the blasts was not known.

The announcement on Thursday that Syria had completed the destruction of equipment used to produce chemical weapons came a day before a November 1 deadline set by the Hague-based watchdog, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

But while some experts portrayed the step as a milestone, others said it has little impact as long as Syria still has its entire remaining stockpile of functioning chemical weapons.

Meanwhile, the UN-Arab League envoy to Syria has warned that there can be no peace talks without the opposition.

Lakhdar Brahimi made yet another plea for both sides in the civil war to come to the negotiating table in Geneva later this month.

Mr Brahimi, who wrapped up his days-long visit to Damascus as part of a Mideast tour meant to muster regional support for 
the conference, appeared uncertain about prospects for the meeting.

“We will say it’s happened only when it happens,” he told reporters at a Press conference, acknowledging that the Geneva gathering cannot take place if the opposition refuses to take part.