Israel targets ‘military positions’ near Damascus
The strikes are said to have hit several positions near the city and “destroyed an arms depot that belongs to the Iranians”.
A February 2020 file picture shows an explosion following an Israeli air strike on an undisclosed location in Syria. (AFP)
DAMASCUS – Israel attacked targets near Damascus on Thursday and Syria’s air defences shot down a number of rockets over southern districts of the capital, Syrian state media reported.
SANA news agency quoted a military source saying the attacks wounded four soldiers and caused material damage. Damascus residents reported hearing at least one explosion.
The rockets were fired from the direction of neighbouring Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, state television said
Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Israel has routinely carried out raids in Syria, mostly targeting Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah forces as well as government troops.
“At around 12:56 (2035 GMT), the Israeli enemy carried out an aggression from the direction of Lebanon on some positions in the vicinity of Damascus,” Syrian state news agency SANA said, citing a military source.
“Our air defences intercepted the aggression and shot down most of” the missiles, the news outlet said, adding that “four soldiers were injured”.
The strikes also caused “some material damage”.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the air strikes had targeted “military positions” near Damascus.
Later they added the strikes hit several positions near the city and “destroyed an arms depot that belongs to the Iranians”.
Al-Manar TV of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group said one of the Syrian air defence missiles exploded near the Lebanon-Syria border and the detonations were heard in parts of southern Lebanon.
Israel rarely confirms the strikes, but its army has said it hit about 50 targets in the war-torn country last year, without providing details.
Source: Israel targets ‘military positions’ near Damascus | | AW