Stand Down

False Alarm Sets Off Syrian Air Defenses

Sparked fears of fresh strikes.

A false alarm set off Syrian air defenses overnight, with a Syrian government source claiming “a joint electronic attack” by Israel and the United States caused the malfunction. Syrian state TV initially reported that the Bashar al-Assad regime shot down missiles that were fired over Homs and the government called the strikes an “aggression." A Pentagon spokeswoman told AFP that there were “no U.S. or coalition operations in that area,” while an Israeli military spokesman said he wasn’t “aware of such an incident.” However, a Syrian military commander confirmed the air defenses were set off by a false alarm and blamed the malfunction on an electronic attack from the U.S. and Israel. The unnamed commander said the issue had been dealt with by Russian experts.