Iranians among Dead in Israeli Raid on Damascus

W460

Israeli strikes on Damascus airport killed seven fighters, a war monitor said Friday, the latest in a string of attacks targeting Iran's military presence in Syria.

Syrian state media said only that its air defenses intercepted missiles over the capital overnight while Israel did not immediately comment on the strikes.

Israel routinely fires missiles at what it says are Iranian targets in Syria, where elite Iranian forces and allied militia play a key role.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the strikes launched late Thursday hit military targets in the area of the international airport.

Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the Britain-based Observatory, said the dead were three Syrian soldiers and four members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

A Syrian army source quoted by SANA said the attack took place at 11:45 pm (2145 GMT), when an AFP correspondent in Damascus heard loud blasts.

"Our air defenses intercepted hostile targets over the skies of Damascus," SANA said.

It said the "missiles were launched from over the occupied Golan Heights".

Several missiles were intercepted before they could reach their targets, said the agency, which rarely admits to casualties among army or Iranian ranks.

The Observatory said the targets in the airport area, which has been repeatedly hit in similar strikes, included an arms depot.

- Arms delivery? -

The strikes on the airport compound came just after the arrival of a cargo plane, according to Abdel Rahman, who could not specify where the aircraft had flown in from.

He said a vehicle had also been hit on the road towards central Damascus in what seems to have been an attempt to stop a weapons delivery.

SANA released a video of what appeared to be Syrian air defenses firing over Damascus.

Israel's political leadership has spoken publicly of the bombing campaign, although the army rarely comments on individual strikes.

Israel argues that Iran's presence across several parts of Syria, including near the Golan Heights it occupies, is a threat and that it will continue its strikes.

On February 6, Israeli air strikes killed 23 Syrian and foreign fighters in Syria.

Among them were three Iranians as well as 12 Syrian and foreign members of Tehran-backed militias.

Iran has deployed its Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) in Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad, who clung on by a thread earlier in the nine-year-old conflict.

It also holds sway over a myriad militia groups whose ranks include fighters from Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and other countries.

The head of the IRGC's elite Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, was killed in a U.S. drone strike on Baghdad airport at the beginning of this year.

Soleimani was the mastermind of Iran's foreign operations but Iran's forces remain heavily involved in military operations carried out in Syria.

Comments 13
Missing un520 14 February 2020, 11:23

Oh dear! This will be the end of the state of Israel, I`m sure. What a mistake!

Thumb janoubi 14 February 2020, 12:07

Expecting a response by hezbollah in the 'heart of occupied Palestine' anytime now!

14 May 2018, 17:56
Nassrallah revealed that Israel was warned via a foreign state that “the next response would be in the heart of occupied Palestine".
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/246151-nasrallah-says-golan-attack-tells-israel-its-raids-won-t-go-unpunished

Thumb ex-fpm 14 February 2020, 12:13

IRAN SAYS ISRAEL 'WILL BE DESTROYED' IN RESPONSE TO EVEN A 'LIMITED' ATTACK

1/31/19 AT 5:27 PM EST

Senior Iranian military leader has warned Israel against future attacks in Syria, threatening a much more powerful counterattack as tensions between the Middle Eastern archfoes escalate.
https://www.newsweek.com/iran-israel-destroyed-response-attack-1313967

Missing phillipo 14 February 2020, 13:48

I wonder what the glass surface of the formerTehran would be if Iran tried to attack Tel Aviv

Thumb ex-fpm 14 February 2020, 12:15

13 February 2020, 10:01 pm
Iran Guards commander threatens to hit Israel

Over the weekend, former IRGC head Mohsen Rezaei told Lebanon’s Hezbollah-affiliated al-Mayadeen TV station that Iran is just looking for an excuse to attack Israel and “raze Tel Aviv to the ground.”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-guards-commander-threatens-to-hit-israel-us-if-slightest-error-made/

Thumb justin 14 February 2020, 14:08

lol

Thumb joebustani 14 February 2020, 13:01

bless anyone person, entity, organization, brigade or country that inflicts extreme pain and unbearable suffering, death, torture, and destruction upon the iranian sectarian terrorist militia and its members, sponsors, supporters or followers wherever they may be.

Thumb saint-valentine 14 February 2020, 14:35

Love is in the air... Iran received Israel’s present but it was even more bitter than dark chocolate.

Thumb kanaanljdid 14 February 2020, 14:40

Iranian militia-men in Syria are occupiers, so Israel killed occupying forces.

Missing samiam 14 February 2020, 17:08

THey must be pilgrims....

Thumb Crispy 14 February 2020, 18:19

Oh goodie, company!

Thumb warrior 14 February 2020, 19:54

جاءت ضربة الأمس قاصمة للوجود الإيراني في سوريا حيث أعلن عن مقتل الجنرال رضائي محمدي مدير شؤون نقل قوات الحرس الثوري الإيراني من قم الى جبهات حلب بغارة اسرائيلية على مدينة قدسيا، والجنرال “حاج حسين” القيادي في الحرس الثوري الإيراني ومسؤول تذخير القوات الإيرانية في سوريا وذلك إثر غارة جوية إسرائيلية استهدفت منزله في محيط مطار دمشق الدولي، كما أعلن عن مقتل ثلاثة جنرالات في الحرس الثوري الإيراني جراء قصف إسرائيلي استهدف اجتماع لهم في منطقة السيدة زينب جنوب دمشق. بل أن القصف تعدى ذلك إلى احتراق طائرتين من طراز انتنوف 72 كانتا تنقلان شحنات دعم عسكرية لقوات “الحلفاء” في فيلق القدس على جبهات إدلب

Thumb gma-bs-artist. 14 February 2020, 20:27

This shows how "الكيان الصهيوني خائف و مربكة" obviously