An Israeli missile strike on Saturday killed at least five pro-Iran terrorists near Damascus and wounded several others, a British war monitor claimed.
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Syria's state news agency SANA quoted a statement by an unnamed military official who said air defenses shot down several incoming surface-to-surface missiles from northern Israel just before noon, which also caused damage in the area.
The report also said that two Syrian soldiers were wounded in the attack.
Israel carries out raids on Syria mostly during nighttime and rarely comments on individual attacks.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor from the Syrian opposition, said the missiles hit northwest of Damascus, killing five Iran-allied militiamen. The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists on the ground, said it was not clear if those killed were Syrians or foreigners.
There was no official word on deaths.
The Observatory said the target was a shipment of weapons and ammunition heading to Lebanon. It had earlier said that the areas hit contain arms depots for Lebanon's Hezbollah terrorist group and positions of the Syrian military and Iran-backed militias.
Saturday's strikes came days after Syria accused Israel of carrying out an attack in the country's south, without offering details.
Israel has launched hundreds of strikes against Iran-linked military targets in Syria over the years but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.
Israel has acknowledged it is targeting bases of Iran-allied militias, such as the powerful Hezbollah. It is going after arms shipments believed to be bound for the group, which is a sworn enemy of the Jewish state.
Israel views Iranian entrenchment on its northern frontier as a red line, and it has repeatedly struck Iran-linked facilities and weapons convoys destined for Hezbollah.
According to Israeli and Western intelligence sources, Iran is moving parts of its advanced missile and arms industry into Syrian underground compounds to develop a sophisticated arsenal within range of Israeli population centers.
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