Two Syrian soldiers killed in Israeli missile strike, says Damascus

Israel launched its attack from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, according to Syrian state media

An Israeli air strike hit Damascus on February 19. AFP

Two Syrian soldiers were killed and four others wounded by Israeli missile strikes near the capital Damascus on Wednesday, Syrian state news agency Sana said. Adding that the bombing targeted "certain positions in the vicinity of Damascus" and caused "some material damage".

The Britain-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the targets included warehouses used by Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group and that the strikes also targeted positions of the Syrian army's elite Fourth Division near the airport in the town of Dimas.

"At about 12:25am the Israeli enemy launched an aerial aggression with bursts of missiles from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, targeting some points in the vicinity of Damascus," a Syrian military source said on Sana.

The agency earlier said most of the missiles had been intercepted by Syrian air defence systems, while the Observatory reported the raid caused fires.

Syrian air defences were deployed against the Israeli missiles and "shot down most of them", the military source added.

The Israeli military has not commented.

Israel has for years been carrying out attacks against what it describes as Iran-linked targets in Syria. During more than a decade of war in Syria, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on its territory, mostly targeting Syrian army positions, but civilians have also been killed during recent strikes.

The Israeli strikes also targeted a Syrian air defence base in Tartus province, the Observatory said, reporting at least 20 Israeli raids so far this year.