Missile Launched From Syria Toward Israel Explodes Mid-air

Israeli previous strike on Syria (File- Reuters)
Israeli previous strike on Syria (File- Reuters)
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Missile Launched From Syria Toward Israel Explodes Mid-air

Israeli previous strike on Syria (File- Reuters)
Israeli previous strike on Syria (File- Reuters)

The Israeli army said early Sunday that a missile was launched from Syrian territory towards Israel. The army clarified in a statement carried by Reuters that the anti-aircraft missile exploded mid-air.

Israeli military spokesman also said Israeli warplanes targeted a Syrian air defense battery from which an anti-aircraft missile was launched. He said the warplanes also attacked other targets in the area, while no casualties were reported from the Syrian missile.

Syrian state media SANA earlier said the country's air defenses intercepted an Israeli missile strike across central parts of the country and downed most of the missiles.

Quoting an army statement, the Syrian Arab News Agency said missiles that flew over parts of Lebanon’s capital Beirut hit locations in the vicinity of the city of Homs, resulting only in material damage.

Israel has in recent months intensified strikes on Syrian airports and air bases to disrupt Iran’s increasing use of aerial supply lines to deliver arms to allies in Syria and Lebanon, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah



Director of Yeyha al-Houthi's Office Arrested for Allegedly Spying for US

The Houthi have intensified their crackdown on people who refuse to support them. (EPA)
The Houthi have intensified their crackdown on people who refuse to support them. (EPA)
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Director of Yeyha al-Houthi's Office Arrested for Allegedly Spying for US

The Houthi have intensified their crackdown on people who refuse to support them. (EPA)
The Houthi have intensified their crackdown on people who refuse to support them. (EPA)

The Iran-backed Houthi militias continued their wave of arrests, reaching the highest ranks of the Houthi command.

Under the supervision of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) experts, they arrested Ali Abbas, the director of the office of Yehya al-Houthi – the militias’ leader – on alleged charges of spying for the United States.

Political sources in Sanaa told Asharq Al-Awsat that Houthi intelligence, which operates under the IRGC, arrested Abbas and deputy at the Ministry of Education Ahmed al-Nunu on spying charges.

The sources said the arrests were based on investigations the Houthis have carried out with dozens of detainees who used to work for United Nations offices and other international organizations, as well as former staff at the US embassy in Yemen and the Netherlands.

The legitimate Yemeni government condemned the Houthis for kidnapping Nunu.

Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said the arrest sheds light on the ongoing oppression the Houthis practice in regions under their control.

“No one is safe from their violent practices, not even people who have worked for them since their coup,” he added.

The Houthis had kidnapped other senior Education Ministry officials, professor Mohammed al-Mekhlafi and expert Mujib al-Mekhlafi, nine months ago.

Eryani said the Houthis also executed educational expert Sabri al-Hakimi while in detention because he refused to join their effort to change curricula that would promote the militias’ goals.

He called on the international community, UN and rights organizations to speak out against these “heinous crimes.”

He also called for the designation of the Houthis as a terrorist organization and for the international community to offer real and effective support to the government so that the state can impose its control throughout the country and end the violations against the Yemeni people.