Israel fires missile at drone near Syria frontier

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FILE PHOTO: A Patriot anti-missile battery is deployed in the northern city of Haifa, Israel August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Baz Ratner/File Photo

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military says it fired a Patriot missile at an unmanned aircraft that approached its airspace near the Syrian frontier in the Golan Heights.
The army said Sunday that the missile did not hit the drone, and the aircraft “retreated from the border.”
It was not immediately clear who launched the drone, but in February Israel shot down what it said was an Iranian drone that entered its airspace. It bombed Iranian targets in Syria in response.
Syrian troops have launched an offensive against rebel forces in southwestern Syria, near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Israel has expressed concerns about Iranian troops supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces, and says it will not allow a permanent Iranian military presence in Syria.