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Civilians among 15 dead in Israeli strikes in Syria: monitor
BEIRUT, July 1, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Israeli air strikes in Syria left nine
mostly foreign pro-regime fighters and six civilians including three children
dead, a Britain-based war monitor said Monday.
The raids near Damascus and in Homs province late Sunday killed the
fighters, but it was not immediately clear exactly how the civilians died —
whether in the strikes or in the aftermath, the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights said.
It said the strikes hit several Iranian positions near Damascus and
targeted a research centre and a military airport west of the city of Homs
where the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah and Iranians are deployed.
One of the pro-regime fighters killed was Syrian, while the rest were of
other nationalities, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.
State news agency SANA earlier said four civilians had been killed after
its air defences responded to an Israeli attack.
“Our air defences confronted enemy missiles launched by Israeli
warplanes… towards some of our positions in Homs and in the vicinity of
Damascus,” SANA said, quoting a Syrian military source.
An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment on the report.
Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria since the
beginning of the conflict in 2011, targeting forces loyal to President Bashar
al-Assad and the regime’s allies Iran and Hezbollah.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1436 hrs