Israeli air strikes killed five soldiers near Damascus airport, Syria says

Two Iran-backed fighters were also killed in the attack on Saturday

Israeli air strikes in June put Damascus airport out of service for nearly two weeks. AFP

An Israeli air strike near Damascus airport killed five Syrian soldiers on Saturday, Syria's state media has reported.

The strike was carried out at about 12.45am and came from the direction of Lake Tiberias in north-eastern Israel.

Damascus airport and "some points south of Damascus" were the targets of the strikes, it reported.

"The aggression led to the death of five soldiers and some material damage," Sana news agency reported, quoting a military source.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the strikes killed five Syrian soldiers and two Iran-backed fighters.

The observatory, which relies on a wide network of sources in Syria, said Israel attacked sites held by Iran-backed groups near Damascus airport and in the countryside.

Last month, three soldiers were killed in Israeli strikes in the countryside around the city and south of coastal Tartus province.

In June, Israeli air strikes put Damascus airport out of service for nearly two weeks.

In the past month, Israel has carried out two air strikes on Aleppo airport.

The observatory said at the time that those strikes hit weapons depots belonging to Iran-backed militias.

Since civil war erupted in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes against government troops as well as Iran-backed forces and fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah group.

While Israel rarely comments on the attacks, it has acknowledged carrying out hundreds of strikes.

It has said its campaign is necessary to stop Iran from gaining a foothold in Syria.