Reports of an explosion at a Syrian military base have prompted speculation of a new Israeli attack on Syria. Israeli officials would not confirm a report that their jets carried out a strike.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the explosion took place at the Syrian air base in Lataika on the Mediterranean coast.

An Obama administration official confirmed the attack happened overnight on Thursday but provided no details.

Another security official said that the target was Russian-made missiles.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to publicly discuss the attack.

The attack happened at the same time that international inspectors announced they had finished dismantling Syria’s chemical weapons production facilities.

UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has been in Damascusto try to shore up support for faltering peace talks to end Syria’s civil war in which more than 100,000 people have been killed

On Wednesday he met President Bashar al-Assad who told him that negotiations to stop the conflict would only succeed if foreign powers ended support for rebels fighting to overthrow him.