Israel Air Force attacks pro-Assad militia in Syria

Israel’s Air Force reportedly carried out a strike in Syria, killing members of a pro-Assad militia.

Israel’s Air Force (IAF) carried out an attack against a terror cell operating in the Al-Quneitra Province, adjacent to Israel’s northern border, early Sunday morning, Arab media reported.

According to the reports, three men were killed and two others were wounded in the strike.

Al-Jazeera reported Sunday that the IAF attacked a pro-Syrian government group, the National Defense Forces (NDF).

The NDF is a pro-Assad militia reportedly linked to the Hezbollah terror group.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that Israeli warplanes targeted sites and vehicles belonging to the Assad regime forces in the vicinity of Al-Baath city, Khan Arnaba town and the Eastern Samadanya village, which destroyed and damaged vehicles. They had no information on casualties.

A Syrian army Facebook page named the three casualties as Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, Sufwan Ahmed Salibi and Osama Hamed Faraj.

The IDF did not officially comment on the reports, but Israeli defense officials stated off the record that the reports were inaccurate.

Israel reportedly struck at the NDF in the past in an attempt to thwart terror attacks planned by the organization. Earlier this month, it carried out a drill simulating the takeover of an Israeli position.

This strike comes two days after the IAF carried out similar strikes in the same region.

The IDF stated on Friday that it had targeted military positions inside Syria in retaliation for mortar fire that hit the northern part of the Israeli Golan Heights – spillover from the heavy battles taking place between various Syrian factions in the area.

A Syrian military source announced through the SANA news agency on Friday evening that the Israeli warplanes had fired two missiles from within Israel, causing material damage.

The source claimed that the strike came after an attempt by terrorists to infiltrate military positions in Quneitra was foiled and the terrorists suffered heavy losses, “which proves that Israel provides direct support to terrorist organizations.”

The source affirmed that “such desperate attempts will not dissuade the Army and Armed Forces from continuing to crush the terrorist groups that act as Israel’s proxy in the area.”

There have been several previous reports of IAF airstrikes on targets in Syria, primarily against weapons shipments from Iran in route for the Hezbollah in Lebanon.

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News

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