Two Syria soldiers killed in Israel strike over Tartous - Syrian media

Two Syrian soldiers were killed and six others were wounded in an Israeli air strike over the Mediterranean port city of Tartous near the ancestral home region of Syrian President, Bashar Al Assad, Syrian state media reported on Wednesday.

It gave no details of the specific locations that were hit, Reuters reports.

Israel has staged hundreds of strikes against alleged Iranian targets in Syria in recent years, but has mostly avoided hitting the coastal provinces where Russia’s main military assets are concentrated.

Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment.

The strikes are part of an escalation of what has been a low-intensity conflict whose goal is to slow down Iran’s growing entrenchment in Syria, Israeli and regional military experts say.

The strikes were close to the Russian Navy’s only Mediterranean base in the port of Tartous where Russian warships are docked, while Moscow’s major Hmeimim Air Base is also in nearby Latakia province.

Russia’s intervention, alongside Iran, helped turn the tide in favour of Assad in the country’s over decade-old conflict.

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