Israel conducts air strike in Syria – Syrian state media

DAMASCUS (Reuters): Israel carried out an air strike near the Syrian capital early Friday, Syrian state media reported, the second attack near Damascus in the last two days.

Reuters witnesses heard at least three big explosions over the city overnight.

Citing a military source, state media reported that Israel fired “sprays of missiles” just after midnight.

“Syrian air defenses intercepted the missiles and shot down a number of them,” the source said, saying the aggression caused some material damage. There were no details about casualties.

The source said the attack hit “a site in the Damascus countryside” but did not provide further details.

There was no immediate statement from Israel, which usually declines to comment on reports of strikes in Syria.

Israel has for years been carrying out attacks against what it has described as Iran-linked targets in Syria, where Tehran’s influence has grown since it began supporting President Bashar Assad in the civil war that began in 2011.

Iranian-backed groups, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and Iraqi paramilitary groups have entrenched positions around the capital and in the country’s north, east and south.

There have been at least six strikes in March alone, according to a tally by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor with sources on the ground.

Two soldiers were wounded in an Israeli missile attack near Damascus on Thursday, Syrian state media reported.