Israel admits it attacked target deep inside Syria

Published on Wednesday 3 October 2007 01:11

ISRAEL broke nearly a month of official silence and confirmed yesterday it carried out an air strike deep inside Syrian territory last month.

The incident stoked tensions between the foes after months of speculation they could restart peace talks.

Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, made clear in a television interview on Monday that he had not ruled out a military response to the raid.

"Israeli air force planes attacked a military target deep inside Syria on 6 September, the military censor allowed for publication today," Israel's Army Radio reported. The headline of the Maariv newspaper was: "Now it can be revealed: Israel attacked in Syria," while the Haaretz newspaper led with the military's permission to publish "the fact" of Israel's attack

Israel had until now refused to confirm or deny that any air strike had taken place, though the incident was publicly confirmed by Syrian officials.

Military censors continued to censor other details, including what was targeted and which forces took part.

Some US officials have linked the raid to suspicions of secret nuclear co-operation between Syria and North Korea.

Other reports suggested the raid may have targeted Iranian arms bound for the guerrilla movement Hezbollah.