Israeli airstrikes yesterday near Damascus killed nine combatants, among them five Syrian soldiers, in the deadliest such raid since the start of this year, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
An ammunition depot and several positions linked to Iran’s military presence in Syria were among the targets, the group said.
Government media in Syria confirmed four of the casualties in the strikes, on which Israel did not comment.
Photo: AP
“The Israeli enemy carried out an air assault at dawn ... targeting several positions around Damascus,” a military source was quoted as saying by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA). “The investigation indicated that four soldiers were killed, three others injured and material damage noted.”
The latest strike follows another near Damascus on April 14, without casualties, SANA reported.
The UK-based observatory, which relies on a vast network of sources in every region of Syria, said that eight people were also wounded in the strikes.
The other four killed were not members of the Syrian military, but belonged to Iran-backed militia, observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said, adding that he could not verify their nationality.
At least five separate sites were targeted in the latest Israeli raid, Rahman said.
Correspondents in the Syrian capital said they heard explosions.
Since the war broke out in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes inside the country, targeting government positions as well as allied Iran-backed forces and Shiite militant group Hezbollah.
While Israel rarely comments on individual strikes, it has acknowledged mounting hundreds since 2011.
The Israeli military has said that they are necessary to prevent Iran from gaining a foothold on its doorstep.
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