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| Men inspect damage after Syria State Media reported an Israeli attack in Damascus, Syria, in this handout released by SANA on March 7, 2022. SANA/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THIS IMAGE MANDATORY CREDIT |
Iran said on Wednesday that an Israeli airstrike in Syria that killed four people including two Iranian Revolutionary Guards officers would be avenged.
Syrian state media said the other two victims of Mondayโs strike on Damascus were civilians, while the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights identified them as pro-Iran Syrian militiamen.
The Observatory said the two dead Iranians killed belonged to Iranโs elite Quds Force. Six militiamen were also wounded, it added.
Holding Israel accountable for such attacks โis one of the main goals of the resistance (forces) in the region,โ Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said.
The Guardsโ website, Sepah News, identified the two slain officers as colonels Ehsan Karbalaipour and Morteza Saeidnejad, adding that Israel would โpay for this crime.โ Their funerals will be held on Wednesday, it said.
The Observatory said Mondayโs was the seventh Israeli strike on Syria this year and that the target was a weapons and ammunition depot near Damascus airport.
Israel rarely comments on air strikes in Syria, of which it has carried out hundreds since the start of the civil war in 2011.
Iran has been Syrian President Bashar Al-Assadโs most supportive ally throughout the conflict. Backed by Russian air power, Syriaโs army and thousands of Iran-backed militias have been fighting insurgents.
REUTERS
