Israeli air strikes injure 14 civilians near Syria's Hama

The missiles were aimed at rocket depots of Iran-affiliated militias in the Masyaf area

Soldiers on patrol near the city of Hama in Syria. AFP

At least 14 civilians have been wounded in explosions caused by a series of Israeli air strikes in countryside near Hama in Syria, a war monitor said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday that the strikes were aimed at rocket depots of Iran-affiliated militias in the Masyaf area.

The watchdog, based in the UK, said it had information about casualties among the guards at the depots.

Syria's state news agency Sana reported that two civilians were wounded in Israeli air strikes on the western Hama and Tartus regions.

The strikes also caused several fires but the agency said most of the missiles had been intercepted.

The observatory said on Thursday the strikes, aimed at Iranian-aligned militia, caused "several casualties".

"Israeli strikes targeted positions and depots of arms and ammunition of Iran-affiliated militias," said the monitor, which has a network of sources in Syria, AFP reported.

It also reported several heavy explosions that sparked fires and resulted in "several victims". A Syrian air force officer was also reported missing, it said.

There was no immediate response from Israel.

• 

  US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces watch as rounds light up Baghouz. All photos: AP

• 

  Displaced Syrian children slide down a hill, above a refugee camp in the town of Bar Elias, in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

• 

  Men trudge to be screened after being led from the last territory held by ISIS militants, near Baghouz.

• 

  A man rides his bicycle through rubble in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, Damascus.

• 

  Turkish troops take control of Bursayah hill, which separates the Kurdish-held enclave of Afrin from the Turkey-controlled town of Azaz.

• 

  Syrian Civil Defence workers and citizens gather after an air strike hit a market in Maaret Al Numan in southern Idlib.

• 

  Syrians watch a US armoured convoy pass on a road to Raqqa.

• 

  An army soldier places a Syrian national flag during a battle with rebel fighters at the Ramouseh front line, east of Aleppo.

• 

  Civilians look for their belongings after clashes between opposition fighters and Syrian soldiers loyal to President Bashar Al Assad, in Hejeira, near Damascus.

• 

  Kurdish opposition fighters occupy a tank stolen from the Syrian Army, in Fafeen village, north of Aleppo.

• 

  The Beloved of Allah militia head towards the scene of the battle with government forces on the outskirts of Aleppo.

• 

  People burn portraits of Assad during a demonstration on the outskirts of Idlib.

Since civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes against its neighbour.

While Israel rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations, it has acknowledged that it targets bases of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s allies, including Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group and other Iran-backed militias, AP reported.

In the strategic Deir Ezzor province in eastern Syria, the US military and Iran-backed militias have over the past two days exchanged attacks in a significant escalation of hostilities.

Iran denies sending troops to Syria but says its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has "military advisers" with Syrian government forces.

The latest air strikes come as parties to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal build momentum towards bringing back the agreement.

The conflict in Syria started with the repression of peaceful protests, then escalated, drawing in foreign powers and global extremists.

The war has killed nearly half a million people and forced about half of the country's prewar population from their homes.