Syrian air defenses intercepted a flurry of fired missiles near the capital Damascus on Monday, state media reported, in the latest wave of suspected Israeli attacks.
Sources said Israeli airstrikes attacked a major Iranian-backed munitions depot on the edge of the capital and Iranian fighters were reportedly killed.
State television said Israeli missiles were fired at the Syrian Golan Heights and live footage showed explosions in the skies above Damascus.
“The Israelis have attacked a major ammunition depot. There were several attacks and the explosions were huge. There are reports that Iranian personnel have been killed,” said Zaid al-Reys, a Syrian analyst in contact with sources on the ground.
A Syrian military spokesman was quoted as saying that air defenses thwarted most missiles targeting the southern suburbs of Damascus, areas that Israel hit in the past, before reaching its targets and inflicting only “material losses”.
Proxy Militias
Syrian military defectors said the attack targeted a major Iranian-run ammunition depot at Jabal al-Mane, near the town of Kiswa, where Iranian Revolutionary Guards have long been entrenched in a rugged area 15 km away (9.3 miles) south of central Damascus.
The explosions were so severe that they were heard in the capital and shook the windows of various neighborhoods there, according to residents.
The bases in eastern, central and southern Syria that Israel had hit in recent months are believed to have a strong presence of Iranian-backed militias, according to intelligence sources and military defectors familiar with the locations.
Syria never publicly acknowledges that the attacks target Iranian assets in a country where Tehran’s military presence has covered most of the government-controlled areas.
Western intelligence sources say Israel’s attacks on Syria are part of a shadow war approved by the United States and part of its anti-Iran policy.
Israel has acknowledged conducting many raids inside Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011.
Israeli defense officials have said in recent months that Israel will intensify its campaign against Iran in Syria, where, with the help of its delegate militias, Tehran has expanded its presence.
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