Israeli strikes near Syrian capital kill Iranian adviser

Syrian state media on March 31 said Israel has launched airstrikes on the suburbs of Syria’s capital Damascus for the second day in a row. According to Iran state media, Milad Heidari, an Iranian military adviser, was killed during what it called a “criminal strike”.

Israel staged airstrikes on the suburbs of Syria's capital city early on March 31 for the second day in a row, killing an Iranian adviser, the state media of Syria and Iran reported.

Loud explosions were heard over Damascus shortly after midnight on Thursday, according to residents in the capital and the state news agency SANA. The airstrikes came after similar attacks early on Thursday.

SANA said Syrian air defences confronted "hostile targets”, adding that the strike caused material damage. SANA said some of the Israeli missiles were shot down by air defences.

Iran's State TV reported on Friday that Milad Heidari, an Iranian military adviser, was killed during what it called a “criminal strike” by Israel early Friday morning in Syria. Without giving Heidari's rank, the report called him a “guard of Islam”. The outlet said he was a member of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and warned that Israel will receive an answer for the crime.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the strikes targeted an arms depot for government forces and Iran-backed groups just south of Damascus.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, including attacks on the Damascus and Aleppo airports, but it rarely acknowledges specific operations.

Israel says it targets bases of Iran-allied militant groups, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.