The capital of Syria mourns its dead. Fifteen people, including civilians, were killed on Sunday in an Israeli strike on a residential building near an Iranian cultural center in Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) announced in Beirut. .
The Syrian Ministry of Defense for its part reported a provisional toll of five dead, “including a soldier”, and 15 wounded “some in critical condition”. This is “the deadliest Israeli attack on the Syrian capital” to date, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the OSDH, an NGO with an extensive network of sources in Syria. According to the official Syrian agency Sana, several buildings were damaged.
An area housing the headquarters of the security services
The deadly strike targeted the Kafr Sousa district, a high-security area that houses the headquarters of security and intelligence services, and where senior officials of these services live. “At 12:22 a.m., the Israeli enemy carried out an air assault from the occupied Golan Heights, targeting several areas of Damascus and its surroundings, including residential areas,” the Syrian Ministry of Defense said.
Since the beginning of the war in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in its neighbor, primarily targeting positions of the Syrian army, Iranian forces and Lebanese Hezbollah, allies of the Syrian regime. The Jewish state rarely comments on its strikes against Syria but regularly asserts that it will not let Iran extend its influence to Israel’s borders.