Israeli strike on arms depot in Syria’s Homs kills two fighters linked to Iran
Third attack since Thursday against military positions, as drone that crossed border also shot down
Israeli air strikes killed two Iranian-linked fighters in western Syria on Sunday, the third such attack since Thursday.
The early morning strike near the city of Homs followed attacks on Damascus on Thursday and Friday in which two members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed.
Israeli forces also shot down a drone that crossed over from Syria on Sunday.
“Two pro-Iran fighters whose nationalities are so far unknown were killed,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitor.
The strikes targeted military positions of Syrian government forces and pro-Iran groups.
The monitor, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, said explosions rocked Homs and a fire broke out in a research centre.
“An arms depot belonging to Lebanese Hezbollah forces in the military airport of Dabaa, in the south-western sector of Homs, was destroyed,” Observatory head Rami Abdulrahman told AFP.
He said the two fighters had been killed in strikes on the arms depot.
“The Israeli enemy carried out an air assault … targeting positions in the city of Homs and its province,” state news agency Sana said, citing a military source.
Sana reported that air defence forces intercepted several missiles but added that five soldiers were also wounded in the attack.
Israel said it destroyed an unidentified drone late on Sunday night that crossed into its territory from Syria. “Helicopters and fighter jets were deployed following an unidentified aircraft that seems to have crossed from the direction of Syria into Israeli territory,” the Israeli army said.
“The aircraft was downed in an open area.” A representative confirmed it was unmanned.
The incidents came shortly before Syrian state media said a car bombing rocked Damascus.
“An explosive device detonated in a civilian car, setting it alight without causing casualties,” Sana quoted police sources as saying.
The Interior Ministry said “two people were slightly injured” in the incident that targeted a pickup.
It was not immediately clear who was responsible.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani condemned the Israeli attacks in Syria.
The “blood of these high-ranking martyrs will not go to waste”, he said on Sunday. Tehran “reserves its right to respond … at the appropriate time and place”, he added.
The Israeli strikes were the latest of hundreds it has conducted in Syria since the civil war started in 2011.
Most have targeted Iranian and Hezbollah positions, as well as advanced weapons transfers to Syrian forces.
The Lebanese Hezbollah militia was instrumental in the regime regaining most of Homs from the armed opposition in 2014 and 2015 and has maintained a presence in the area.
Since an earthquake affected parts of Syria in February, Israel has increased attacks on
Iran-linked targets in the country. Syria constitutes the longest section of a supply route between Tehran and Hezbollah, Iran’s most powerful Middle East ally.
After the strikes on Thursday and Friday, the IRGC said one of its officers in Syria, Milad Haydari, was killed. Iranian media reported on Sunday the death of a second officer, Meqdad Meqdani.
A month before, Israeli strikes on Damascus and one of its suburbs killed two Syrian officers thought to have close links to the IRGC, according to sources in the regime and the opposition.
“Israel will continue its strikes. It appears to be receiving precise information,” said Syrian political commentator Ayman Abdel Nour.
He said the strikes could help keep the perceived Iranian threat prominent in Israel, in case Israel chooses at some point to attack Iran directly to curb its nuclear programme.
Explosions rocked Homs and a fire broke out in a research centre, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights