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Israel says strikes Syria, Damascus says soldier killed

May 27, 2019
Smoke billows during reported Syrian government forces' bombardments on the village of Sheikh Mustafa in the southern countryside of the militant-held Idlib province on Monday. — AFP
Smoke billows during reported Syrian government forces' bombardments on the village of Sheikh Mustafa in the southern countryside of the militant-held Idlib province on Monday. — AFP

BEIRUT — Israel's military said it attacked a Syrian anti-aircraft position that fired on one of its warplanes on Monday, and Syrian state media reported that a soldier had been killed in what it called an "Israeli aggression".

"Syrian anti-aircraft systems fired at an IDF fighter jet during a routine flight in northern Israel," an Israeli military statement said, adding that the plane was not hit but that the Syrian projectile landed in Israeli territory.

A Syrian military source was cited by state news agency SANA as saying "the Israeli enemy targeted one of our military positions" in Quneitra province, which is adjacent to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

It said one soldier was killed, another injured and a military vehicle damaged.

Last year, anti-aircraft fire brought down an Israeli jet returning from an air raid in Syria, prompting a wave of Israeli strikes against other targets there.

Israel has acknowledged carrying out hundreds of strikes in recent years to curtail the influence of its arch-foe Iran and Tehran's Lebanese ally Hezbollah, which are fighting on the side of President Bashar Assad in Syria's war.

"Our policy is clear: we are not prepared to tolerate any aggression against us. We will respond forcefully and aggressively," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video released after the incident. — Reuters


May 27, 2019
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