Nine Non-Syrians Killed in Overnight Israeli Attack on Damascus

Slain were labeled 'pro-government forces'

Following up on last night’s Israeli attack on Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the incident Monday, saying it targeted arms depots, and killed at least nine pro-government forces, all identified as “non-Syrian,” though the Observatory was unsure where they were from.

The attack started after midnight, and lasted a half hour. Syrian state media reports that most of the Israeli missiles were intercepted. The Israeli government has refused to comment on the attack.

Rumors are that the slain were Afghan or Pakistani Shi’ite militia members, which is common for Israeli attacks. Israel only rarely targets Syrian troops, despite attacking Syrian territory several times per month.

Israeli media tends to spin these actions as attacks on Iran, because the targets are Shi’ites. Since Iran has relatively few people in Syria, they too are rarely directly targeted, and this is mostly just a question of spinning it.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.