BAccording to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a rocket attack by the Israeli army on the Syrian capital Damascus killed 15 people, including civilians. The organization said on Sunday that a building in the Kafr Susa district, which houses a large part of the Syrian security apparatus, had been destroyed. It was the heaviest air raid since the beginning of the year.
The impact happened near an Iranian cultural center, and the rockets were aimed at locations of “Iranian militias and the Lebanese Hezbollah”. The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, spoke of the “deadliest Israeli attack in the Syrian capital”.
The Syrian Ministry of Defense reported the provisional number of five dead, including one soldier, a lower number of victims than the observatory. 15 other people were injured, some seriously, the ministry said. The agency said there had been an Israeli airstrike that targeted several areas in and around Damascus, including residential areas.
The information could not initially be independently verified. A spokesman for the Israeli military declined to comment.
For nearly a decade, Israel has been conducting airstrikes against suspected Iranian-backed arms shipments and personnel transfers in neighboring Syria. Officially, however, the country has rarely confirmed or commented on the attacks.
According to Western intelligence sources, Iran has expanded its military presence in Syria in recent years, gaining a foothold in many state-controlled areas. According to Israeli military experts, the attacks are part of a conflict aimed at slowing Iran’s growing entrenchment in Syria.