WarSclerotic

Al-Qaida was responsible for the massive arms depot explosion in Latakia over the weekend, a Syrian official said on Sunday. Syria denied Israel’s role in the incident after Arab media outlets reported conflicting stories on the cause of the blast.

“The attack in Latakia was not carried out from the air or the sea, but by a terrorist group aligned with al-Qaida,” a senior Syrian official told Syrian state media. “The group fired missiles of European design that caused large fires in the bases.”

Some Arab outlets reported that foreign aircraft had bombed the site and others that it was destroyed by missiles fired from boats. The reports estimated that 10 to 20 Syrian soldiers were killed in the strike.

Lebanese media outlets reported that the target was a weapons storage depot. Beirut-based newspaper Al-Akhbar reported that the attack was apparently carried out using cruise missiles fired from war ships.

Meanwhile, Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah’s TV station Al-Manar denied that Israel stood behind the attack, placing the blame on Syrian rebels. According to Al-Manar, rebels fired at least three missiles at the base and caused heavy damages.

Latakia is seen as a safe haven for the Alawite minority in Syria, an off-shoot of Shiite Islam to which embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad belongs. The Assad family has a palace in Latakia, which is close to the port of Tartus, home of the Russian fleet in the Mediterranean Sea.