Airstrike in Damascus Thursday said to target Iranian backed militias, seven reported killed

Syrian news agencies report missiles were fired over the Golan Heights and the British based observatory for Human Rights reported seven fatalities in the attack among them four from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps
Associated Press, Ynet|Updated:
Syria’s air defenses engaged “hostile targets” over the capital of Damascus, state-run media said late Thursday. Residents reported loud explosions that rocked the city shortly before midnight.
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  • State news agency SANA quoted reports saying Syrian air defenses intercepted a number of missiles.
    A missile strike on Damascus targets

    It said the missiles approached from the southwest over the Golan Heights. No further details were immediately available nor was it clear what was hit.
    4 View gallery
    יירוט טיל טילים תקיפה סוריה דמשק אמל"ח אמצעי לחימה
    יירוט טיל טילים תקיפה סוריה דמשק אמל"ח אמצעי לחימה
    Syrian air defenses respond to a missile attack in the Damascus area
    (Photo: Syrian television)
    A video carried by SANA showed what appeared to be Syrian air defenses firing over Damascus.
    The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war, said seven people were killed in the attack of suspected Israeli missiles that targeted posts for Iranian-backed militias in the area between the Damascus international airport and the Sayeda Zeinab neighborhood, south of the capital.
    4 View gallery
    תקיפה סוריה דמשק טילים
    תקיפה סוריה דמשק טילים
    A missile strike on the Syrian capital of Damascus
    The Observatory said some of the missiles hit their targets. It didn’t say whether there were any casualties.
    On Wednesday Iran vowed to deliver a crushing response to any Israeli action against its interests.
    "The Islamic Republic of Iran will give a crushing response that will cause regret to any kind of aggression or stupid action from this regime against our country's interests in Syria and the region," ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said.
    The unusual statement came after a plane belonging to the Revolutionary Guard Corps took off from Tehran to Damascus.
    The plane had been out of commission for the past six months after it was damaged in a June 2019 airstrike on Syria attributed to Israel. Shortly before the Boeing 747 cargo plane landed in Damascus, Iranian officials accused Israel of carrying out attacks against military forces in Syria that are allied with Tehran.
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    מטוס הקרגו 747 האירני שפועל עבור משמרות המהפכה המריא מטהרן לדמשק
    מטוס הקרגו 747 האירני שפועל עבור משמרות המהפכה המריא מטהרן לדמשק
    An Iranian 747 cargo jet's flight path from Tehran to Damascus
    At least 23 people were killed in Syria in a pre-dawn raid attributed to Israel last week, according to the London-based Observatory for Human Rights, three of the victims were reported to have been Iranian nationals.
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     An attack attributed to Israel on Iranian targets in Syria
     An attack attributed to Israel on Iranian targets in Syria
    An attack attributed to Israel on Iranian targets in Syria
    Israel does not usually comment on reports concerning its airstrikes in neighboring Syria, though it has frequently attacked what it says are Iranian targets there.
    Iranian-backed fighters, including those of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group, have joined Syria’s war and are fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government forces.
    First published: 07:15, 02.14.20
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