Israel 'strikes Iranian targets' in Damascus according to sources, making this second airstrike this month
Israel 'strikes Iranian targets' in Damascus according to sources, making this second airstrike this month
This would be the second time this month that Israel attacked Iranian strongholds in Syria.
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This is a stock image of an Israeli F-16 [Getty]
Heavy explosions were reported in Damascus on Thursday evening following suspected Israeli warplanes bombing the Al-Kisweh area outside the city.
Several missiles came across the Golan Heights before hitting their target, according to an Al Masdar News source.
It is thought to be Iranian ammunition depots in southwestern Damascus, Syrian state television said.
While some missiles were intercepted by Syria, others hit their intended targets.
Israel has not yet taken responsibility for the missile strikes, but Syrian state media has accused the country of carrying them out, as the latter has targeted Al-Kisweh and the neighbouring areas in the past.
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Last week Israeli airstrikes killed 23 pro-Iran fighters in Syria, and this latest alleged strike comes after a spate of Israeli airstrikes on Iranian targets to halt Tehran ambitions to develop a military presence on its doorstep.
Israel has pledged to prevent its main enemy from entrenching itself militarily in Syria, where it is backing President Bashar al-Assad’s regime alongside Russia and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
The pre-dawn raids killed three Iranians and seven Tehran-backed foreign fighters near Kisweh, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
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Eight Syrian air defence forces also lost their lives in both Mezzeh and Jisr Baghdad, west of the capital, the Britain-based war monitor said.
A Syrian regime army source quoted by the regime's news agency SANA said air defences responded to two waves of Israeli strikes after midnight that targeted the Damascus area and then positions in Daraa and the adjacent province of Quneitra.
"The attack wounded eight fighters," the source said, without elaborating on where they had been stationed or their nationality.
AFP correspondents in Damascus heard loud explosions around 1:15am (11:15pm GMT Wednesday).
State television broadcast images showing explosions in the sky.
An Israeli army spokesman declined to comment on the strikes at the time when contacted by AFP.
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