Israeli spy equipment allegedly discovered along Syrian coast

Syrian authorities have discovered Israeli spying devices that were apparently hidden in objects that resembled rocks, Syria's state news agency SANA reported Thursday.

According to the report, the devices were designed to photograph, register and transfer data. The news agency said the objects were uncovered in Syria's coastal region near the port city of Latakia last weekend, but gave no further details.

The Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson's Unit declined comment.

Syria's state-run TV aired footage of an object consisting of what looked like a camera and a satellite dish, and other objects that resembled rocks. Plastic boxes resembling batteries and cables were shown lined up in a room.

A senior Syrian security official said the equipment was sophisticated and had been used for eavesdropping and tracking purposes. He said the devices were designed to record information and relay it back to its source in real time, and was used by Israel and opposition rebel forces at war with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime to keep tabs on Syrian troop movements in the coastal region.

"The sophisticated systems were intended to transfer information directly to the Zionist regime through cameras and satellite transmissions," he said. "The espionage devices were camouflaged as rocks and were supposed to provide surveillance on sensitive security installation located nearby."

Another senior Syrian official told Al-Manar, the satellite television station affiliated with Hezbollah, that the equipment was recently discovered on a Syrian island near the port city of Tartus, much further south than Latakia.

According to the Al-Manar report, the spy equipment planted on the island, which is uninhabited, was meant to track and observe the Russian naval base at the port of Tartus, as well as and Syrian and Russian naval deployments in the Mediterranean Sea.

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