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.
"No American places or ships have launched missiles in the Mediterranean," said a US official.
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.
The reports said Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had told President Vladimir Putin about the missiles amid growing expectations of Western military action in 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.
"No American places or ships have launched missiles in the Mediterranean," said a US official.
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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.
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The reports said Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had told President Vladimir Putin about the missiles amid growing expectations of Western military action in Syria.
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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.
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