According to reports, an Israeli airstrike has killed up to 15 persons in Kafr Sousa, a high-security area of the Syrian capital Damascus that is home to Iranian installations and senior security officials.
The rare, targeted attack damaged multiple buildings in the heavily populated district near Omayyad square in the capital. Where multi-story residential security buildings are located.
A spokesperson for the Israeli military declined to comment.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights recorded 15 deaths, including civilians, in the strike near an Iranian cultural centre. Syria’s defense ministry reported that the strike killed five persons. Including a soldier, and injured 15 civilians, some of whom are in critical condition.
It was initially unclear whether the assault was directed at a particular individual.
Imad Moughniyeh, the top commander of the pro-Iran Hezbollah, was killed in 2008 in a bombing in Kafr Sousa. A heavily policed area where, according to locals, several Iranian security agencies and a significant cultural center are located.
Israel has been conducting airstrikes against suspected Iranian-sponsored arms transfers and personnel deployments in neighboring Syria for nearly a decade. Israeli officials have infrequently claimed responsibility for particular operations.
According to western intelligence sources, Iran has increased its military presence in Syria in recent years and has a foothold in most state-controlled areas, with thousands of members of militias and local paramilitary groups under its command.
Israel has intensified attacks on Syrian airports and airbases in recent months to thwart Tehran’s growing use of aerial supply lines to deliver arms to allies in Syria and Lebanon, including Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran.
The strikes aim to stop Iran’s entrenchment in Syria by escalating a low-intensity war.
The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has never acknowledged publicly that Iranian forces operate on his behalf in Syria’s civil war, claiming that Tehran only has military advisers on the field.
