Syria
Syrian air defense batteries responding to Israeli missiles targeting Damascus on January 21, 2019. Photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An Israeli airstrike in the vicinity of Syria’s Damascus on Wednesday past midnight wounded two soldiers of the Syrian army and inflicted material damages, state media reported.
“At about 12:25 am, the Israeli enemy carried out an air attack with bursts of missiles from the direction of the north of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting some points in the vicinity of Damascus,” SANA said, citing a military source.
“The aggression resulted in the injury of two soldiers and some material losses,” it continued, adding that air defense systems intercepted and shot down “most” of the missiles.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said that the strikes targeted positions of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group in Damascus, leading to fire breakouts in their warehouses.
The Observatory later on Wednesday said that two Iran-backed militias and one Syrian army soldier were killed in the strikes, adding that four others were wounded.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on regime-controlled areas of Syria throughout its 11-year civil war, often claiming to strike pro-Iran militias, such as Hezbollah which supports the Syrian army.
According to SOHR, Wednesday’s strike was the 20th Israeli strike on Syria since the beginning of the year.
Earlier this month, Israel carried out a series of airstrikes near the government-held central city of Homs, claiming to have struck an anti-aircraft battery as well as “additional targets” in the area.
While it rarely claims responsibility for strikes on Syria, Israel has repeatedly warned that it will not allow archrival Iran to expand its base in the country.
Updated at 10:02 am with new SOHR toll.
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