DAMASCUS, Sept 6: Syria said its air defences opened fire on Israeli warplanes which had violated Syrian airspace at dawn on Thursday, increasing tensions between the neighbouring foes.

A Syrian minister warned that the nation’s leadership was considering its response to the Israeli “aggression” while in Israel the military declined any comment.

“Israeli planes penetrated Syrian airspace from the Mediterranean Sea heading towards the northeast, breaking the sound barrier,” a Syrian army spokesman told the official SANA news agency. “Our air defences repulsed them and forced them to leave ... after the Israeli planes dropped munitions, without causing human or material loss,” he said.—AFP