India, June 18 -- Iran fired a pair of ballistic missile barrages at Israel early Wednesday, with the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declaring the beginning of the battle, further escalating tension in the region.

The first salvo began to trigger sirens across a large swath of Israel shortly after 12:40 a.m., and included some 15 projectiles, reported The Times of Israel.

The next barrage of approximately 10 rockets began around 40 minutes later and triggered alerts in central Israeli communities and a number of West Bank settlements, the newspaper reported.

The Israel Defense Forces had instructed people to take shelter ahead of the missile attack launched by Iran.

According to reports, no casualty was reported.

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