Syrian military source quoted as saying attack kills one Assad soldier, causes material damage; reports circulating on social media say blasts heard near capital Damascus
https://www.ynetnews.com-Liad Osmo
U.S.-backed Syrian rebel forces outside al-Tanf U.S. military base in southeastern Syria (Photo: AP)
Israel attacked army posts in southern Syria overnight Thursday, killing one soldier and causing material damage, the country’s state media reported.
“At around 00:50 tonight, the Israeli enemy attacked by air targets in southern Syria with several missiles,” state media quoted an unidentified military official as saying.
The source further stated that the rockets were “fired from the Israeli Golan Heights” and “activated Syrian air defenses and that most of the incoming missiles were intercepted.”
The source confirmed that one Syrian soldier was killed and there was damage to the area.
According to reports circulating on social media, blasts were heard in the area of the capital Damascus.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military had intercepted a small done near the At Tanf Garrison in southeastern Syria on Tuesday evening, NBC quoted a United States Central Command spokesman as saying early Thursday.
According to Capt. Bill Urban, two drones, or unmanned aerial systems (UAS), were tracked entering the airspace around al-Tanf military base and troops shot one of them down after assessing it demonstrated hostile intent.
The second drone turned and left the area. It is unclear whether they were carrying explosives.
The incident came just weeks after the same base was attacked by drones and rocket fire which was Ynet revealed was an act of revenge on Iran’s part for Israeli attacks in Syria.
Five suicide bombers targeted the base at the time, and the New York Times reported that the offensive, which did not result in casualties, was the first time Iran had directly ordered a military offensive against the United States in response to Israeli attacks.
Israel has staged hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled Syria in recent years but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.
Israel has acknowledged, however, that it targets the bases of Iran-allied militias, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah group that has fighters deployed in Syria. It says it attacks arms shipments believed to be bound for the militias.
Hezbollah is fighting on the side of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces in the country’s decade-old civil war.
Israel says the Iranian presence on its northern frontier is a red line, justifying its strikes on facilities and weapons inside Syria.