SOHR: Five pro-Iranian fighters are said to have been killed in an alleged Israeli attack near Damascus

Five pro-Iranian militiamen were killed in an Israeli missile attack near Damascus on Saturday, a war observer said, while state media reported that two Syrian soldiers were wounded in the attack.

The UK-based Syrian Human Rights Observatory said the attack “destroyed a Hezbollah convoy and Iranian weapons and ammunition” heading for Lebanon.

At least five pro-Iranian fighters were killed and several injured, said the war observer.

The report could not be verified independently. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group with unclear funding, was at times accused of increasing the number of victims.

The state news agency SANA had previously said, citing a military source, that two Syrian soldiers had been wounded after explosions in the Syrian capital.

“The Israeli enemy fired a volley of surface-to-surface missiles from occupied Palestine to the north and aimed at positions near Damascus,” SANA said.

“Our anti-aircraft defenses were activated and were able to hit some of the enemy missiles,” the source said, adding that the attack wounded two soldiers and caused damage.

AFP correspondents in Damascus heard several explosions around noon.

 

Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Israel has routinely carried out air strikes in Syria, targeting not only Syrian government troops but also terrorist groups supported by Iran.

It is rare for the Jewish state to launch attacks on Syrian targets during the day.

The Israeli military rarely acknowledges individual attacks, but has repeatedly said that Syria will not allow it to become a stronghold of Iran.

On October 14, an Israeli air strike on Iranian positions in central Syria killed nine fighters allied with the Syrian government.

 

 

SOURCE: NewsBeezer