DAMASCUS, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- A series of blasts rocked Syria's southern Aleppo province on Thursday night, as Israeli warplanes carried out strikes on defense factories and a research center there, according to local media and a war monitor.
The local news outlet al-Watan Online reported that multiple explosions reverberated in Al-Safira city, where defense facilities are located. The report added that the attack targeted a scientific research center on the city's outskirts.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, confirmed at least seven large explosions, saying Israeli aircraft bombed both the Al-Safira defense factories and a research center.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The latest raid, the observatory noted, brings the total number of Israeli airstrikes on Syrian territory to 498 since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government in early December last year. ■
