Syria has constructed a fortified complex buried deep underground and cloaked in secrecy to manufacture and store ballistic missiles capable of striking Israel, an Israeli newspaper said on Monday. According to the report, the complex comprises of 30 reinforced concrete bunkers, production facilities, development laboratories and command posts, the Tel Aviv-based Yediot Aharonot newspaper quoted "foreign experts" as saying.
The "missile city" houses mainly Scud missiles capable of reaching anywhere in Israel. Given its weak air power, Damascus is boosting its arsenal of surface-to-surface missiles and protecting them in the complex, the Israeli report said.
According to it, Syria has 200 Scud-B missiles, 60 Scud-C and a certain number of North Korean Scud-D missiles with a range of 700 kilometres, and has developed chemical warheads for all its Scuds.
The chemical warfare agents are stored in a separate facility, the report quoted the foreign experts as saying. It added that Iran recently supplied Syria with some 100 Chinese shore-to-sea C-802 missiles -- the same missile that Hizbullah used to hit an Israeli warship during last summer's Lebanon war.
