DHAKA: Two ballistic ‘objects’ that Russia said were launched toward the eastern coast of the Mediterranean on Tuesday fell into the sea.

State-run Russian news agency RIA cited a source in Damascus as saying, reports Turkish daily Hurriyet.

Israel later said it carried out a test of a missile, used as a target in a US-funded anti-missile system, in the Mediterranean on Tuesday.

The Israeli Defence Ministry said the test was conducted at 9:15am (0615 GMT), about the same time that RIA news agency reported.

Interfax news agency quoted a ministry spokesman as saying the launch was detected at 10:16 am Moscow time (0616 GMT) by an early warning radar station at Armavir, near the Black Sea, which is designed to detect missiles from Europe and Iran.

There was no sign of a missile attack or explosions in Damascus after the ballistic launch was detected, the Russian Embassy in Syria confirmed to the state-run Itar-Tass news agency.

The ballistic objects detected by Russian radar fell into the sea, according to a source in Damascus quoted by the Russian news agency RIA.

The agencies did not say who had carried out the launch and whether any impact had been detected. The ministry declined comment to Reuters.

Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu had informed president Vladimir Putin of the launch.

BDST: 1742 HRS, SEPT 03, 2013
RoR/RK