DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Israel launched a missile attack on western and central Syria Sunday night, killing three soldiers and wounding three others, the Syrian military said in a statement.
The Syrian army said Israel’s military targeted several positions in the coastal province of Tartus and suburbs of the capital Damascus. The military said the missiles were fired by warplanes flying over neighboring Lebanon adding that they caused material damage as well.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the Israeli strike targeted a Syrian army air defense base in the area of Abu Afsa. It added that Iran-backed fighters are usually in the base.
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria over the past years, but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.
Israel has acknowledged, however, that it targets bases of Iran-allied militant groups, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah that sent thousands of fighters to fight alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.
In June, Israeli airstrikes temporarily put Damascus International Airport out of commission.
