BEIRUT: Israel fired several surface-to-surface missiles at a military post near the Syrian capital of Damascus early on Saturday, causing material damage but no casualties, Syria's state-run news agency reported.The airstrike came as violence resumed in the Damascus suburbs after days of calm while the government and opposition delegations attended peace talks in Geneva.The Israeli military did not comment on the missile attack, which occurred shortly after midnight on Friday, targeting a military area near the southern Damascus suburb of Kiswah.SANA, the state news agency, said the missile attack caused material damage but gave no details. The report also said that Syrian air defenses shot down two of the Israeli missiles.Israel has carried out a number of airstrikes against suspected arms shipments believed to be bound for Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, which is fighting alongside Syrian government forces in the civil war.Israel has also struck several Syrian military facilities since the conflict began, mostly near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. It said one of the shells exploded near Al-Mariamiyah Cathedral in the central Bab Touma neighborhood.The government and opposition resumed peace talks in Geneva on Tuesday. The U.N.-hosted negotiations paused for the weekend but are scheduled to resume on Tuesday.The Observatory said six people were killed in Saturday's government airstrike on Arbeen while the White Helmets said airstrikes on the suburb of Harasta killed one person and wounded others, including women and children.Harasta and Arbeen are in the Eastern Ghouta region, one of the hubs in the uprising against President Bashar Assad in 2011. The area, long besieged by government forces, is now facing the highest recorded malnutrition rate in the country since the outbreak of the war more than six years ago, according to a U.N. report released Wednesday.

Source: Times of India December 02, 2017 11:35 UTC