Syria: 11 dead in air strikes attributed to Israel

Eleven people were killed and a several injured in air strikes in Syria overnight which have been attributed to Israel.

According to a report by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based group opposed to the Assad regime, ten soldiers and one civilian were killed when aircraft, reportedly Israeli, struck positions occupied by pro-Iranian forces south of Damascus overnight.

Syria’s state news agency SANA reported Monday night that the country’s air defense network had been activated after hostile aircraft approached the Damascus area. The report claimed that a number of missiles fired by the attacking aircraft had been intercepted.

On Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the strikes targeted Hezbollah forces, along with other pro-Iranian forces in Al-Hejana, south of Damascus, the Kiswah area, and Daraa, in south Syria.

One female civilian was killed, the SOHR claimed, when her house was struck by shrapnel during the strikes.

The other ten fatalities included three Syrian soldiers, including an air defense officer, and seven foreign combatants, including members of the Hezbollah terrorist group and other pro-Iranian oragnizations.

Several weeks ago, IDF fighter jets and combat helicopters attacked Syrian army targets in southern Syria.

The air strike was in retaliation for an attempt to place explosives along the Syrian border which was thwarted in the southern Golan Heights on Sunday night.

The targets attacked include observation posts and means of gathering intelligence, antiaircraft cannons and command and control centers at Syrian army bases.