MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd September, 2018) Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem confirmed on Sunday the reports that explosions in an ammunition depot near the Mezzeh military airfield in the vicinity of Damascus were caused by a short circuit, not Israeli missile strikes.
Earlier in the day, a source in Syrian intelligence services told Sputnik that the outskirts of Damascus were subject to a missile attack. The Syrian air defense systems repelled the blows, he said, adding that Mezzeh military airfield near Damascus was not affected by the strike, but there were explosions at an ammunition depot near it as a result of the attack. The Times of Israel newspaper reported, citing sources, that the strikes had been conducted by Israeli aircraft.
"In fact, from what we understood from sources in the Syrian Defense Ministry, the cause of these explosions was a short-circuit due to overheating ... These expositions were not the result of illegal Israeli aggression," the minister told the Russia-24 broadcaster when asked whether the explosions occurred due to ammunition blowing up or due to an Israeli airstrike.
Over the past several years, Syria has repeatedly accused Israel of attacks on the Mezzeh military airport. According to Tel Aviv, Israel strikes the Iran-supplied Hezbollah arms depot at the Mezzeh facility to prevent the Lebanese movement, listed as a terrorist group in Israel, from obtaining advanced weapons for terrorist aims.
