Syrian media say Israel fired missiles on Damascus\u2019s Kafr Sousa neighbourhood, killing five and wounding 15
\n Damascus
\nAt least five people have been killed, 15 wounded and several residential buildings damaged in Israeli airstrikes on the Syrian capital Damascus, Syrian state media reported.
\nThe raids early on Sunday hit a building in central Damascus\u2019s Kafr Sousa neighbourhood near a large, heavily guarded security complex close to Iranian installations, Reuters news agency said, citing witnesses.
\nLoud explosions were heard over a central area of the capital around 12.30am (2130 GMT Saturday), and the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that Syrian air defences were \u201cconfronting hostile targets in the sky around Damascus\u201d.
\nCiting a military source, SANA reported that five people had been killed, among them a soldier, along with \u201cdestruction of a number of residential buildings\u201d.
\n\u201cIt caused damage to several civilian homes and material damage to a number of neighbourhoods in Damascus and its vicinity,\u201d the army said in a statement.
\nFootage posted by state media showed that a 10-storey building was badly damaged in the attack, crushing the structure of its lower floors.
\n\u201cThe strike on Sunday is the deadliest Israeli attack in the Syrian capital,\u201d said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a United Kingdom-based group that has a wide network of sources inside Syria.
\nIsrael has not commented on the airstrikes which come more than a month after an Israeli missile attack hit the Damascus International Airport, killing four people, including two soldiers.
\nIsrael targeting Syria
\nFor almost a decade, Israel has been carrying out air attacks against suspected Iranian-sponsored weapons transfers and personnel deployments in neighbouring Syria. Israeli officials have rarely acknowledged responsibility for specific operations.
\nThe raids \u2014 which in recent months have targeted Syrian airports and air bases \u2014 are part of an escalation of what has been a low-intensity conflict whose goal was to slow down Iran\u2019s growing entrenchment in Syria, Israeli military experts say.
\nIran has expanded its military presence in Syria in recent years and has a foothold in most state-controlled areas, with thousands of members of militias and local paramilitary groups under its command, Western intelligence sources say.
\nCommenting on the latest attack, Nasser Kanani, Iran\u2019s foreign ministry spokesperson, blamed Israel for \u201ctrying to exacerbate the pain and suffering of the Syrian nation\u201d.
\n\u201cThey are trying to exacerbate the pain and suffering of the Syrian nation at a time when it is faced with the effects of the recent destructive earthquake,\u201d said Kanani, also calling on the UN Security Council to react to the strikes.
\nIran\u2019s proxy militias, led by Lebanon\u2019s Hezbollah, now hold sway in vast areas in eastern, southern and northwestern Syria and in several suburbs around the capital.
\nSyrian President Bashar al-Assad\u2019s government has never publicly acknowledged that Iranian forces operate on his behalf in Syria\u2019s civil war, saying Tehran has only military advisers on the ground.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Syrian media say Israel fired missiles on Damascus\u2019s Kafr Sousa neighbourhood, killing five and wounding 15 Damascus At least five people have been killed, 15 wounded and several residential buildings damaged in Israeli airstrikes on the Syrian capital Damascus, Syrian state media reported. The raids early on Sunday hit a building in central Damascus\u2019s Kafr […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314802,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-314775","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n