Israeli strikes hit Syria military targets: monitor

BEIRUT: Israeli airstrikes hit positions held by the Syrian government and its pro-Iranian allies near Damascus overnight, a war monitor said on Wednesday.

Syrian state news agency SANA confirmed the raids and said they caused only material damage.

“The Israeli enemy launched an aerial aggression with a number of missiles,” the news agency quoted a military source as saying, naming the targeted area as Zakia.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the targets were army positions and arms depots belonging to Iran-backed militias.

Similar strikes last week killed at least five militiamen, the Observatory said.

Israel rarely comments on individual strikes but has confirmed carrying out hundreds in Syria since the civil war erupted in 2011 in a bid to stop Iran from gaining a foothold on its doorstep.