Syria
A cloud of smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike targetted the Syrian capital city of Damascus on July 20, 2020. File photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A series of Israeli airstrikes on Thursday targeted a “building” in the Syrian capital Damascus, state media reported. A war monitor said the strikes targeted a pro-Iran Iraqi militia base in the city.
“At around 3:20 am today, the Israeli enemy launched airstrikes from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting a building in the Damascus countryside,” Syria’s state-owned SANA news agency said citing a military source, adding that air defenses intercepted the missiles.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a Britain-based war monitor, reported that the strikes targeted “a base and cultural center” of the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Harakat al-Nujaba, which comprises the 12th brigade of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi).
The strikes inflicted material damage, and were carried out in the Sayyida Zeinab area in southern Damascus – a stronghold for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its affiliated militias.
It is the latest amid increased hostilities against the backdrop of the Israel-Gaza war with Israel on the cusp of launching its long-threatened ground offensive in Rafah, south of Gaza along the border with Egypt.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on regime-controlled areas of Syria throughout its nearly 13-year civil war, often claiming to target pro-Iran militias such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah group that supports the Syrian army.
While it rarely comments on strikes attributed to it in Syria, Israel has repeatedly warned that it would not tolerate its arch-rival Iran gaining a foothold there.
Last week, an Israeli strike on Damascus injured eight Syrian army soldiers. It was the first on the city since a deadly strike on the consular annex section of the Iranian embassy on April 1, which Tehran blamed on Israel.
“At around 3:20 am today, the Israeli enemy launched airstrikes from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting a building in the Damascus countryside,” Syria’s state-owned SANA news agency said citing a military source, adding that air defenses intercepted the missiles.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a Britain-based war monitor, reported that the strikes targeted “a base and cultural center” of the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Harakat al-Nujaba, which comprises the 12th brigade of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi).
The strikes inflicted material damage, and were carried out in the Sayyida Zeinab area in southern Damascus – a stronghold for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its affiliated militias.
It is the latest amid increased hostilities against the backdrop of the Israel-Gaza war with Israel on the cusp of launching its long-threatened ground offensive in Rafah, south of Gaza along the border with Egypt.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on regime-controlled areas of Syria throughout its nearly 13-year civil war, often claiming to target pro-Iran militias such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah group that supports the Syrian army.
While it rarely comments on strikes attributed to it in Syria, Israel has repeatedly warned that it would not tolerate its arch-rival Iran gaining a foothold there.
Last week, an Israeli strike on Damascus injured eight Syrian army soldiers. It was the first on the city since a deadly strike on the consular annex section of the Iranian embassy on April 1, which Tehran blamed on Israel.
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