Thread: Syria crisis: Israel sparks alert in Mediterranean after unannounced missile test

Telegraph
9/3/2013

Two missiles detected in the Mediterranean by Russian radar on Tuesday were launched as part of an Israeli air defence drill, officials in Tel Aviv have said.


The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (above) and four other ships in its strike group moved into the Red Sea on Monday Photo:

Israeli defence ministry sources said the two rockets were launched as test targets for the country’s missile defence systems.

Earlier Israel had denied any knowledge of the launch, which a Russian early warning radar picked up earlier this morning.

The Israeli Defence Ministry said the test was conducted at 9.15am (0615 GMT), about the same time that Russia's state-run RIA news agency reported that Russian radar had detected the launch of two ballistic "objects" in the Mediterranean.

The test was of an “anchor” missile – a clay pigeon to test missile defence systems – as part of a joint drill with the US.

In a sign of the tensions in the region, reports of missiles being fired had an instant effect on markets. The FTSE 100 fell as much as 0.8pc to 6,456.95 and the price of Brent crude, which has risen in recent days on Middle East concerns, spiked as much as 1.2pc to $115.74 a barrel this morning. It reached a six-month high of $117.34 on Wednesday.

Russia's state-owned RIA Novosti news agency said both missiles then crashed into the sea, citing a source in Damascus.

Russia had earlier criticised the United States on Tuesday for sending warships close to Syria, saying the deployments would exacerbate tension as Washington prepares for a possible military strike.

"The pressure being applied by the United States causes particular concern," Russian Defence Ministry official Oleg Dogayev was quoted as saying by the state-run Itar-Tass news agency.

He said "the dispatch of ships armed with cruise missiles toward Syria's shores has a negative effect on the situation in the region."

Five US destroyers and an amphibious ship are in the Mediterranean, poised for possible cruise missile strikes against Syria, and American officials said the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and four other ships in its strike group moved into the Red Sea on Monday.

Russia, one of the Syrian government's main arms suppliers, opposes military intervention over an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria. Moscow is also sending new warships to the Mediterranean but says it is just rotating ships in the area.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...sile-test.html

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