Three killed in Israeli air raid on Damascus outskirts, 'hostile targets' intercepted

The air raid launched from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights targeted the southern parts of the Syrian capital amid renewed aggression against the Arab country.

Syria’s state-run SANA news agency said the attack took place at around 23:01 local time on Friday (20:01 GMT on Saturday) when the Israeli regime carried out surface-to-surface missiles at targets in southern Damascus.

“Three people were martyred and some material losses caused,” it said, citing a military source.

The report said the country’s air defense intercepted the “hostile targets” and shot down most of them.

According to reports, the attack also resulted in a fire near Damascus International Airport, leading to the postponement of two flights.

The latest Israeli aggression came a week after five people, including a civilian, were killed in a missile attack targeting the town of Masyaf in the Hama countryside.

Before that, on April 27, a deadly air raid left 10 people dead, including six Syrian forces.

Syria has been in the throes of foreign-backed militancy since March 2011.

While the Daesh takfiri terrorist group was crushed by Damascus with the help of resistance groups in the region, the militant groups continue to hold sway in some parts of the country.

The Syrian government maintains that the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies aid these terrorist groups that continue to wreak havoc in the country. 

Israel has been a key supporter of foreign terrorist groups in the Arab country, who have been seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad and his democratically-elected government.

The regime frequently launches airstrikes at Syria, which many see as a knee-jerk reaction to the Syrian government’s phenomenal success in decimating Tel Aviv-backed terrorist groups.

The aerial bombardments intensified in scale and frequency after 2011 when the Arab country found itself in the grip of foreign-backed militancy and terrorism.

The Syrian government has, on numerous occasions, complained to the United Nations about the incessant Israeli aggression.

Following the May 14 strike, Syria’s foreign ministry urged the UN Security Council to issue a "clear" condemnation of the Israeli regime's recurrent attacks on the Arab country.

The ministry in a letter stated that the Israeli strike came hours after an assault by foreign-backed terrorists in northern Syria killed 10 troops.

The back-to-back incidents "show a permanent coordination between Israel and its terrorist stooges," SANA said at the time, citing the country’s foreign ministry.