The Syrian military on Wednesday fired a ballistic missile, the third such launch in January, a NATO official said on Thursday.

"NATO detected a launch of an unguided, short-range ballistic missile in Syria yesterday. This follows two other launches on Jan. 2 and 3," the official told Xinhua by phone.

He said NATO could not confirm the type of missile used, but all missiles were fired from within Syria and impacted in northern Syria.

"None of them hit Turkey's territory. NATO absolutely condemns this reckless act. The use of such weapons shows utter disregard for the lives of the Syrian people."

In December, NATO decided to deploy advanced Partiots missiles to Turkey's southern border to counter potential missile attack from neighbouring Syria. Germany, the Netherlands and the United Stated agreed to provide a total of six Patriot batteries, which would be operational by the end of this month.

"Some of the first elements arrived by air last week and we expect that this system will come on line gradually over the next several days," the official said.

"The deployment of Patriot missiles send a strong message to anyone who would even think of threatening our ally Turkey." Endi

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