DAMASCUS, Nov 21 (NNN-SANA) – The death toll of Israeli airstrikes on Syria on Wednesday, rose to 23, including, a war monitor and state media reported.
Two civilians were also killed in the after-midnight airstrikes, carried out by Israeli warplanes, from outside Syrian airspace on positions around the capital.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, 21 fighters, including five Syrians, were killed, as well as, two civilians – a man and his wife.
The London-based watchdog said, most of the killed were Iranians from the Quds Force, a unit in Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.
The death toll is likely to grow as many of the wounded are in critical condition, it added.
After midnight Wednesday, people in Damascus were rattled by repeated sound of explosions from different directions, many of whom also saw the air defence missiles flying in the air, lighting up the sky.
A military statement said, Israeli warplanes from the occupied Golan Heights and Lebanon’s Marj Ayoun, targeted the vicinity of Damascus with missiles.
“Our air defence was able to intercept the missiles, destroying most of them before they reached their targets,” said the statement.
The Observatory said, the Israeli missiles targeted military positions in the Sehnaya, Kisweh and Sasa’ areas in southern Damascus, the Mazzeh air base and Jdaidet Artouz in western Damascus, as well as, in the Qudsaya suburb, northwest of Damascus.
Israel said, the airstrikes came in retaliation for allegations that missiles were fired from Syria towards the Golan Heights earlier on Tuesday.
“The rules have changed: anyone who shoots at Israel during the day will not sleep at night,” Israeli Defence Minister, Naftali Bennett, said, following the strikes.
Israel conducted hundreds of airstrikes on Syria, throughout the eight-year conflict, most of them against what it says were targets of Iran-backed militia groups, such as the Lebanese Hezbollah.– NNN-SANA
