Moscow:
Russian reports of two ballistic objects fired from the Mediterranean Sea towards Syria today sparked a missile attack scare and spooked markets until Israel clarified that it was part of a joint drill with the US.
Israel said it had tested a missile used as a target in a US-funded anti-missile system in the Mediterranean, shortly after Russian reports said two ballistic objects had been detected by the country's early warning system.
Russia's news agencies said the missiles were fired from the central part of the Mediterranean Sea towards the eastern coastline near Syria.
As the reports triggered alarm, the US quickly denied launching any missiles towards the Syrian coast.
"No American places or ships have launched missiles in the Mediterranean," said a US official.
What added to the scare was a report that said there was an attack on a pipeline in Deir Ezzour in Syria. Newsagency Bloomberg soon clarified that was a separate incident possibly linked to Syrian rebels.
Later, Russia's state-run RIA agency quoted sources to say that the objects had splashed down harmlessly into the sea. "The two rockets may have been fired from a US naval vessel for the purposes of weather reconnaissance," Interfax news agency quoted Russian military sources as saying.
Russian news agencies had earlier quoted the country's Defence Ministry as saying that the launches took place at 10:16 am Moscow time (0616 GMT) and were detected by the early warning system in Armavir in southern Russia, designed to detect missiles from Europe and Iran.
The reports said Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had told President Vladimir Putin about the missiles amid growing expectations of Western military action in Syria.
Russia opposes any outside military intervention in the Syrian civil war. A Defence Ministry official had earlier criticised the United States for deploying warships in the Mediterranean close to Syria.
The United States has been preparing for a possible military strike in Syria following what it says was a chemical weapons attack by Syrian government forces. Damascus denies carrying out such an attack.
Israel said it had tested a missile used as a target in a US-funded anti-missile system in the Mediterranean, shortly after Russian reports said two ballistic objects had been detected by the country's early warning system.
Russia's news agencies said the missiles were fired from the central part of the Mediterranean Sea towards the eastern coastline near Syria.
As the reports triggered alarm, the US quickly denied launching any missiles towards the Syrian coast.
"No American places or ships have launched missiles in the Mediterranean," said a US official.
What added to the scare was a report that said there was an attack on a pipeline in Deir Ezzour in Syria. Newsagency Bloomberg soon clarified that was a separate incident possibly linked to Syrian rebels.
Later, Russia's state-run RIA agency quoted sources to say that the objects had splashed down harmlessly into the sea. "The two rockets may have been fired from a US naval vessel for the purposes of weather reconnaissance," Interfax news agency quoted Russian military sources as saying.
Russian news agencies had earlier quoted the country's Defence Ministry as saying that the launches took place at 10:16 am Moscow time (0616 GMT) and were detected by the early warning system in Armavir in southern Russia, designed to detect missiles from Europe and Iran.
The reports said Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had told President Vladimir Putin about the missiles amid growing expectations of Western military action in Syria.
Russia opposes any outside military intervention in the Syrian civil war. A Defence Ministry official had earlier criticised the United States for deploying warships in the Mediterranean close to Syria.
The United States has been preparing for a possible military strike in Syria following what it says was a chemical weapons attack by Syrian government forces. Damascus denies carrying out such an attack.
