Syrian pro-regime news outlets said Thursday that the Dabba airport near the city of Homs came under attack but missiles were intercepted by air defense systems before reaching their target. "One of our military airports in the central region was exposed to a hostile missile attack, and our air defense systems confronted the attack and prevented it from achieving its aim," state news agency SANA said. The agency had reported earlier that sounds of explosions were heard near the airport. The attack on Dabba came hours after regime forces and their Iranian and Iraqi militia allies came under a missile attack, which killed at least 12 militants. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said none of the fatalities were Syrian nationals but foreign fighters. Syrian regime forces said the International Coalition struck the army positions, something the US denied later. Amid conflicting reports about the source of the attacks, there has been a growing military race between the Syrian Democratic Forces and regime forces and their allies in the desert of Deir Ezzor to control the remaining pockets of ISIS fighters, who had launched surprise attacks on regime positions, compelling Syrian military reinforcements in the area. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a summit with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in St. Petersburg. The French president is on a two-day visit to Russia, a year after Macron welcomed Putin to the Palace of Versailles in May 2007. The two presidents discussed the Syrian and Iranian files and other issues related to Ukraine and Europe. Putin said he was ready to talk about "key international issues, the resolution of which are important to both France and Russia,” while Macron said, "I hope we can move forward together,” respecting the sovereignty of other peoples. "We must continue to build joint trust." As the Russian-French Summit was held in St. Petersburg, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said that Damascus would “hand to the UN” a list of its representatives to the Constitutional Committee for drafting a constitution, in line with an agreement reached during the Sochi Summit last January.