DAMASCUS —
Israeli missile strikes killed at least two civilians before dawn on Monday near the
Syrian capital Damascus, state media reported.
اضافة اعلان
Israel carried out the strikes at around 5am
(0300 GMT), hitting positions south of the capital,
Syria's official SANA news
agency said, citing a military source.
"Our air defense systems intercepted
the missiles, downing most of them," SANA added.
"Two civilians were killed and some
material damage was incurred," it said, without elaborating.
The Britain-based
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes hit "a weapons and ammunition depot operated
by Iran-backed militias near the Damascus international airport."
The war monitor, which relies on an
extensive network of sources inside Syria, said it could not confirm civilian
fatalities.
According to the Observatory, Israel has
carried out raids in Syria at least seven times since the start of the
year.
Last month, Israeli raids near the capital
killed two Syrian soldiers and four Iran-backed militia fighters, the
Observatory says.
Since civil war broke out in Syria in 2011,
Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes inside the country, targeting
government positions as well as allied Iran-backed forces and fighters of the
Shiite militant movement Hezbollah.
While Israel rarely comments on individual
strikes in Syria, it has acknowledged mounting hundreds since 2011.
The
Israeli military has defended the
strikes as a necessary measure to prevent its arch-foe Iran from gaining a
foothold on its doorstep.
The conflict in Syria started with the
brutal repression of peaceful protests and escalated to pull in foreign powers
and global Islamist extremists. It has killed nearly 500,000 people.
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