Syrian regime says Israel carried out airstrikes in western Syria

By Esref Musa and Mehmet Burak Karacaoglu

ANKARA (AA) - The Bashar al-Assad regime claimed Sunday that Israel carried out airstrikes in western Syria, according to the Syrian state news agency.

Israeli forces targeted multiple locations in Homs province from the northeast of the Lebanese capital of Beirut late Saturday, said SANA, which quoted military sources.

"Our air defense systems shot down some enemy missiles. Material damage reported. Five soldiers were injured," said sources.

Israeli authorities have yet to make a statement.

The attacks came after Israel staged airstrikes in the suburbs of Damascus early Friday, SANA reported.

A member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was killed in the recent Israeli airstrikes, the military branch said in a statement.

Iranian-backed terror groups and Lebanese Hezbollah are stationed alongside regime forces in Homs.

Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Israel has launched airstrikes on the regime's military sites and Iranian-backed groups.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz.