Israeli missile attack on Damascus 'kills 7 fighters'

But Syrian state media says missiles filed at capital on Thursday night were shot down

A poster of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad in the Old City of Damascus. AFP

Israel launched a missile attack on military targets near Damascus on Thursday night, killing three Syrian and four Iranian fighters, a war monitor said.

The strikes on the airport area in Syria's capital had killed at least three Syrian soldiers and four members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

A report by Syrian state news agency Sana said missiles were intercepted over Damascus but made no mention of casualties or the source of the attack.

Israel does not usually comment on strikes in Syria.

The Britain-based Observatory, which monitors Syria's civil war through a network of sources inside the country, said the attack targeted Iran-backed militias near the capital. It said some missiles hit their intended targets, which included a weapons depot near the airport.

Israel has repeatedly bombed Iranian-backed militia targets in Syria, saying its goal was to end Tehran's military presence in the country.

Earlier this month, Israeli air strikes killed 23 Syrian and foreign fighters in Syria.

Three Iranians and seven Tehran-backed foreign fighters were among those killed in the February 6 raids, according to the Observatory.

Iran deployed allied militias from several countries to support its ally Bashar Al Assad in the civil war that began in 2011, including the Lebanese group Hezbollah.