At least five fighters close to the Syrian regime were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Syria on Monday night, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday.
The victims were two Syrian fighters and three foreigners, members of pro-Iranian paramilitary organizations, the NGO said.
The Syrian air defenses intercepted Israeli missiles in the airspace of the province of Aleppo (north), the Syrian state news agency SANA and the Syrian state television network Al Ihbariya reported.
“Yesterday around 23:27 (…) the Israeli enemy launched an attack in southeastern Aleppo, targeting positions in the As Safira region,” a military source told SANA.
Syrian air defenses have been activated and “intercepted” Israeli missiles, “shooting down most”, the source added, adding that military authorities were still in the process of assessing the damage.
- The elephant that “broke into” a house to eat (video)
- Three killed in a shooting – A police officer was fatally injured
- Who is behind Islamic terrorism? (Video)
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a non-governmental organization based in the United Kingdom, the rockets hit positions near the As Safira scientific research center, destroyed bases and a weapons depot belonging to paramilitary organizations near Iran.
Since the outbreak of armed conflict in Syria in 2011, Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes against positions of Syrian government forces and their allies, Iranian and pro-Iranian groups and the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah.
The Israeli military rarely acknowledges that it is conducting operations in Syria; however, it announced earlier this year that it had hit at least 50 targets in the war-torn country last year.
In June, Israeli airstrikes in central Syria killed at least 11 Syrian regime fighters, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
