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Middle East and North Africa

Mediterranean missiles reportedly launched by Israel to test its ABM

Meanwhile, Russian expert claims missiles were weather probes to gauge atmospheric conditions before precision strike

Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

TEL-AVIV, August 3 (Itar-Tass) - Mediterranean missile launches reported earlier today by the Russian military were a joint operation by Israeli and American forces. The objective of the military drill was to test out Arrow 2 Missile Interceptor System, also known as Hetz 2. A representative of Israel's Defense Ministry told journalists that the first target missile "Anchor" was launched ay 9:15am local time (10:15 Moscow time). Itar-Tass tried contacting Pentagon asking to cofirm this information, but no reply was given.

Later the U.S. Navy issued a statement, saying that no launches were made from American warships stationed in the Mediterranean.

Meanwhile, a Russian military expert, editor-in-chief of "National Defense" magazine Igor Korotchenko, suggested that the missiles were weather probes: "These missiles monitor atmospheric conditions on various altitudes. Generally they're used ahead of planned strikes of precision weapons," he added.

Earlier, detection devices of the Russian missile attack warning system fixed the launch of two ballistic missiles in the Mediterranean Sea.

Middle East and North Africa

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