8 soldiers killed as Israel strikes Syria

No fewer than eight Syrian soldiers were killed and seven others wounded in Israeli strikes that targeted their posts in southern Syria, local  media reported on Wednesday.

“At about 1:45 am on Wednesday, the Israeli enemy launched an aerial act of aggression from the direction of occupied Syrian Golan, targeting several military sites in Daraa countryside,’’ a military source said.

The source added that the strike also caused material damage.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor which has been documenting violence in Syria since 2011, confirmed the attack but put the casualty figures at 11 soldiers, among them were four officers.

It added that the attack targeted the so-called Radar battalion in the vicinity of the town of Qarfa, and the 12th Brigade in the Izraa area in the northern countryside of Daraa.

According to the observatory, the Israeli attack came after seven rockets were launched into Israeli territories from areas in the western countryside of Daraa Governorate.

Israel regularly bombs targets in neighbouring war-torn Syria in an effort to prevent arch-rival Iran from expanding its influence there.

The airstrikes had increased in frequency since the beginning of the war between Israel and the Iranian-backed Islamist Hamas in Gaza over two weeks ago.

Tehran has been a main backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the uprising against his rule in 2011.