Syria: 'Israel targets Latakia port' for second time this month

Israel launched an air strike on the Syrian port of Latakia on Tuesday, setting ablaze the container storage area and damaging nearby buildings in a second attack on the facility this month, Syrian state media reported.

An Israeli military spokesperson declined to comment on the incident and the Syrian reports made no mention of any casualties.

Citing a military source, the Syrian state news agency Sana said Israel had carried out the air strike targeting the container storage area at 3.21am (01:21 GMT), causing a fire and leading to "big material damages".

Fire fighters were working to extinguish the blaze, Sana cited the head of the Latakia fire brigade as saying. 

The containers targeted in the strike contained oils and spare parts for machines and cars, it quoted him as saying.

Footage aired by Syrian state TV showed flames and smoke in the container area.

Citing its correspondent, state-run broadcaster al-Ikhbariya said a number of residential buildings, a hospital and a number of shops and tourist facilities had been damaged by the power of the blasts.

Israel has mounted frequent attacks against what it says are Iranian targets in Syria, where Tehran-backed forces including Lebanon's Hezbollah have deployed over the last decade in support of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war.

On 7 December, Israel was accused of carrying out strikes on an Iranian arms shipment at the Latakia port, without causing any casualties, in what was the first attack on the facility since the start of the war.

Russia, which has been Assad's most powerful ally during the war, operates an air base at Hmeimim, some 20km away from Latakia.