A group of drones attacked unidentified targets near the Russian Hmeimim base in Latakia province on the Syrian coast.

The Russian Sputnik agency reported that the Syrian air defenses confronted hostile targets off the coast of Jableh city in Latakia countryside on the early morning of Thursday, October 3.

It added that one of the missiles fell on the outskirts of the city, causing a fire at the site, simultaneously with loud explosions being heard.

The agency quoted an unnamed security source saying that the air defenses dealt with hostile targets, likely drones, trying to consecutively target several sites on the outskirts of the Syrian city of Jableh for more than half an hour.

Sputnik published a video recording which it claimed was of the explosions witnessed in the area and the attempts of the air defense to thwart the attack.

Separately, the Russian news agency (TASS) reported that Israel launched strikes on the city of Jableh in Syria, without mentioning that the strikes were near its main airbase in the area.

The Ministry of Transport in the Syrian government announced that road transport authorities in Latakia temporarily redirected traffic back and forth on the Latakia-Tartus highway from the southern Jableh junction to the Hmeimim bridge, passing through the city of Jableh “to ensure the safety and security of road users,” without mentioning the reasons.

No party claimed responsibility for the targeting at the time of writing this report.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based human rights organization, stated that drones carried out airstrikes on a munitions depot near the city of Jableh close to the Hmeimim air base, leading to its destruction and loud explosions that could be heard from far distances.

It added that the attacks were concurrent with the presence of warships at sea and warplanes, likely Israeli, while Syrian regime forces and the Russian military attempted to repel the attack for more than 40 minutes, according to the Observatory.

The attack comes hours after an Israeli bombing in the Syrian capital, Damascus, targeting a house in the Mezzeh neighborhood, leaving three people dead, whose identities were not known.

A similar attack

On September 24, the coastal province of Tartus witnessed a similar attack, where Syrian air defenses intercepted unidentified targets in the coastal area in northwestern Syria, with no official comment from the regime to date.

The local Sham FM radio reported that air defenses confronted hostile targets over the skies of Tartus, without providing further details.

It added that the sounds of explosions heard in the city of Jableh were due to the support of air defenses in countering hostile targets from the sea between Jableh and Tartus.

At that time, the Russian Sputnik agency mentioned that the Syrian army dealt with a hostile object and launched one interceptive missile over territorial waters.

The Russian agency published a video recording showing attempts to intercept flying objects in the skies over Tartus.

No party claimed responsibility for the attack, nor did the regime accuse any party of being behind the targeting.