Four Syrian soldiers killed in Israeli “air aggression” – state media

DAMASCUS (Reuters) -Four Syrian soldiers were killed and one wounded in Israeli “air aggression” on some military posts in the coastal and central region of Syria on Saturday morning, Syrian state news agency SANA reported.

Syrian air defences countered the attack, which came from the Mediterranean Sea side and also caused material damage, the agency said.

“At approximately 6:30 this morning (0330 GMT), the Israeli enemy carried out an air aggression over the Mediterranean Sea, from the direction of Banias, targeting some posts in the central and coastal region,” the agency quoted a military source as saying.

The Israeli military declined to comment.

Israel has been mounting attacks in Syria for years against what it has described as Iranian and Iran-backed forces that have deployed there during the fighting that began more than a decade ago.

Regional and intelligence sources say Israel has in recent months intensified strikes on Syrian airports and air bases to disrupt Iran’s increasing use of aerial supply lines to deliver arms to allies in Syria and Lebanon, including Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Israeli missiles this month hit a major air base in Syria’s Homs province, killing two servicemen and injuring three. Military sources said the air base, at Shayrat, was recently used by the Iranian air force.

(Reporting by Omar Fahmy and Kinda Makieh; Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell; Writing by Mahmoud Mourad; Editing by William Mallard)