At least three soldiers were killed and three others wounded late Sunday night in an alleged Israeli attack launched from the air and sea, according to a Syrian military source who spoke with Reuters.
The Syrian military also said damage was caused to the targeted sites near the port city of Tartus and on the outskirts of Damascus.
Israeli warplanes reportedly fired at least two missiles from Lebanese airspace at an Iranian military base south of the port city. An air defense installation and radio station were targeted as well, the Syrian military said.
Syrian aerial defenses were activated in response to the attack, according to state-run media.
“Our air defenses are confronting hostile targets in the skies over Tartus…Explosions were heard in the sky of the governorate,” the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.
Missiles were fired at Hezbollah outposts on the outskirts of Damascus, according to Reuters. Syrian anti-aircraft missiles landed in the area as well, according to the UK -based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which reported the strikes targeted “regime military positions, which hold Iranian militias in southern Tartus countryside… several missiles hit the vicinity of Abu Afsa village, the air defense base and a radar in the region…ambulances rushed to the sites to save the wounded and remove those who were killed.”
Abu Asfa, on the M1 highway south of Tartus, is home to a Syrian army air base that hosts Iranian-backed fighters, such as Hezbollah.
Israel targeted the same area last November to eliminate arms depots belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), according to Al-Hadath. The news outlet reported that Sunday night’s attack was also aimed at Iranian military sites, as well as a Syrian air base.
Last week, IDF tanks opened fire at Hezbollah positions along Israel’s northern border in the Golan Heights.
In accordance with state policy, Israel did not comment on the attacks. However, Israeli officials have made it plain for years the Jewish State will not tolerate the proliferation of an Iranian military presence on the territory of its northern neighbor.
