Two individuals were killed on Wednesday when an Israeli airstrike struck a residential structure in the Kafr Sousa neighborhood of Damascus, the capital of Syria, according to security sources and Syrian official media.
According to a military source that Syrian state TV used, several other individuals were injured in the attack at approximately 9:40 a.m. (0640 GMT), and the fatalities were identified as civilians.
Pictures from Syria’s official media displayed the side of a multistory structure that was completely destroyed. The source from security claimed that the “attack did not achieve its aims”.
In addition to housing residential buildings, schools, and Iranian cultural centers, the neighborhood is close to a sizable security agency-used complex that is tightly secured. In February 2023, an Israeli raid on the district resulted in the deaths of Iranian military professionals.
Multiple consecutive explosions were audible to witnesses. A local school’s students were startled by the explosions, and emergency vehicles quickly arrived.
The Israeli military did not immediately provide a statement.
According to Iran’s semi-official Student News Network, no Iranian nationals lost their lives during the hit.
A Reuters witness reported hearing another loud explosion in the city on Wednesday afternoon, which rattled residential windows. Sham FM, a local Syrian news source, reported hearing many explosions in the city but did not say what caused them.
President Bashar al-Assad has received significant support from Iran during the almost 12-year-old Syrian conflict. Due to its backing of Damascus and Hezbollah, Lebanon, Israel regularly launches airstrikes against Tehran in an effort to reduce its military might beyond its borders.
Following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, tensions in the region have risen, and since December, over six Iranian Revolutionary Guards officers have reportedly been killed in alleged Israeli strikes on Syria.
According to people acquainted with the situation, the Guards have reduced the number of senior officers they have stationed in Syria and instead intend to depend more on the Shia militia that is an ally in order to maintain their influence there.
Iran, a supporter of Hamas, has attempted to avoid getting involved in the actual fighting while continuing to provide assistance to organizations that have joined the fray from Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, and Syria—the so-called “Axis of Resistance”—that are antagonistic to US and Israeli interests.
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