Israeli airstrikes on Damascus kill at least 15
Beirut, Feb 19 (EFE).- At least 15 people were killed early on Sunday in Israeli aerial strikes on a Damascus neighborhood, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
However, the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that five residents lost their lives and 15 others suffered injuries in the Israeli airs trikes, carried out just days after a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed tens of thousands in Turkey and Syria on Feb.6.
The Israeli missiles hit the Kafr Sousa neighborhood, in central Damascus, which houses a large security complex near an Iranian cultural center.
The missiles fell on the neighborhood and Dawar al Mazra town, about 12 km south of the capital, said the Britain-based war monitor, which has a wide network of sources on the ground in Syria.
Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the war monitor, described it as “the deadliest Israeli attack” in the Syrian capital.
The observatory said Kafr Sousa is a high-security area in the capital and is home to senior security officials, security branches, and intelligence headquarters.
It said that rockets also targeted sites linked to Iranian militias and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in the Damascus countryside and on an Iranian school in Kafr Sousa.
The official news agency said loud explosions were heard over the capital around 12.30 a.m. as Syrian air defenses confronted “hostile targets around Damascus.”
“The enemy carried out an aerial aggression from the occupied Golan Heights, targeting several areas in Damascus and vicinity, including residential neighborhoods,” Syria’s defense ministry said in a statement.
At least five people were killed, among them a soldier, and 15 civilians wounded, the Syrian state media agency reported, citing a military source.
The news agency said the rocket attack also led to the “destruction of a number of residential buildings.”
This Israeli attack is the second this year.
Seven people lost their lives in the first Israeli attack of 2023 on Jan.2 in and around Damascus International Airport.
There was no immediate statement from Israel on the attack.
Israeli frequently targets military sites in the Damascus vicinity but never claims them.
The war monitor said Israel carried out 32 attacks on Syrian territory in 2022, claiming 89 lives.EFE
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