Israeli airstrikes in Syria kill two soldiers and wound three

The attack hits the Shayrat airbase in the central province of Homs, Syrian state media report.

Israeli air strikes killed two Syrian soldiers and wounded three in the central province of Homs, Syrian state media reported.

Syrian air defenses responded to “hostile targets over southeastern Homs province,” intercepting “several of them,” the state-controlled SANA news agency said on Sunday.

Citing a military source, he said the strikes hit the Shayrat airbase, causing casualties and damage. Syrian state television broadcast footage showing air defenses intercepting “missiles from an Israeli aggression.”

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said loud explosions were heard when four Israeli missiles hit the Shayrat airbase in Homs. He said the missile attack targeted the positions of Iranian-backed fighters in the area.

The strikes came after Israeli warplanes were seen flying over neighboring Lebanon, whose airspace Israel sometimes crosses to carry out strikes against Syria.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes against targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.

Israel has acknowledged, however, that it attacks bases of armed groups allied with Iran, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

On Tuesday, airstrikes in eastern Syria along the border with Iraq targeted Iranian-backed fighters and caused casualties, Syrian opposition activists said. According to two paramilitary officials in Iraq, some of those killed in the attack were Iranian citizens. The US military said it was not behind the attack. Some Syrian opposition activists blamed Israel.

An Israeli attack on Damascus International Airport and nearby military posts outside the Syrian capital on September 17 killed five soldiers.