According to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, just after midnight on Friday, an officer from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was killed in a suspected Israeli airstrike on Damascus.
The report identified the dead officer as Milad Heydari and said he was an adviser. No ranking was given, but the report said he was “martyred” in the attack, which Israel was blamed for. The term is typically a designation for those killed on official orders.
According to the report, in its announcement, the IRGC threatened to avenge the officer’s death. “The Zionist regime will undoubtedly receive an answer to this crime.”
Syria’s state news agency SANA previously reported that shortly after midnight, Syria’s air defenses intercepted “enemy missiles” over the capital, although the “aggression” managed to cause some material damage. Damascus regularly claims to successfully intercept IDF attacks, but military analysts question these claims.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the attacks targeted an arms depot for government forces and Iran-backed groups south of Damascus.
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Less than 24 hours earlier, SANA said the IAF had attacked locations in Damascus, wounding two soldiers and causing material damage.
Milad Heydari (Social Media: Use according to Section 27a of the Copyright Act)
The Israeli military does not usually comment on specific attacks in Syria, but has admitted that over the past decade it has conducted hundreds of sorties against Iran-backed groups trying to gain a foothold in the country.
The IDF says it also attacks arms shipments believed to be destined for these groups, most notably the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah. Additionally, air strikes attributed to Israel have repeatedly targeted Syrian air defense systems.
The pair of attacks followed two attacks in recent weeks targeting Aleppo International Airport, also attributed to Israel. The airport’s runway has been temporarily closed due to damage.
One of the attacks last week targeted an underground ammunition depot at the adjacent Nairab military airport, according to two unnamed “regional intelligence sources” who spoke to Portal news agency. The sources said the site was used to store missile-guided systems delivered by Iranian cargo flights.
Israel also conducted a rare daylight raid in northwestern Syria earlier this month, injuring three soldiers and causing damage, SANA reported.
In January, the Syrian Army said the Israeli military fired rockets at Damascus International Airport, temporarily shutting it down and killing two soldiers. This attack came amid Israeli fears that Damascus airport was being used to smuggle Iranian weapons into the country.
AP contributed to this report.
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