During a long week of offensives and retaliations in the Middle East, a missile destroys a building in Damascus, killing members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Syrians and Iranians accuse Israel of “act of aggression”. At least four members of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards were killed this Saturday (20/01) in the bombing of a residential building in Damascus, for which both Iran and Syria blamed Israel.
“Once again the brutal and criminal Zionist regime has committed an act of aggression against Damascus, the capital of Syria, and during the air attack by fighters of the aggressor and usurper regime, several Syrian soldiers and four military advisors of the Islamic Republic of ‘Iran.'” the Revolutionary Guard said in a statement.
Syria’s official Sana news agency briefly reported “an attack on a residential building in the Mezzeh neighborhood of Damascus following Israeli aggression.” According to Iran’s Student News Network, a media outlet considered close to the Guard’s Basij branch, the men are believed to be members of the military organisation’s Quds Expeditionary Force.
In turn, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that a meeting of “leaders aligned with Iran” was taking place in the four-story residential building, which ended up completely destroyed. The alleged Israeli missile caused five deaths, according to a preliminary assessment.
Long chain of retaliations in the Middle East
The Revolutionary Guard fired missiles at suspected Israeli targets in Iraqi Kurdistan on Tuesday morning, killing two people. In a statement, the organization specified that the target was the “center for the development of espionage operations and the planning of terrorist actions in the region, and above all in our country”, belonging to the espionage services of the “Zionist entity ” – as it is usually defined in Iran to the State of Israel.
Tehran also bombed targets in Syria and Pakistan during the week. The country justified these attacks as a response to the January attack on Kerman, which killed 94 people; an attack on a police station that killed 11 officers; and the deaths of Iranian and so-called Axis of Resistance commanders in recent weeks, in Syria and Iraq.
Iran is a key supporter of Damascus – its main ally in the Middle East – in the war in Syria, where it has sent soldiers and military advisers as well as providing economic and political support.
The current wave of bombings comes at a time of great tension in the Middle East, amid repeated attacks by pro-Iranian militias against US positions in Iraq and Syria; as well as attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels against ships in the Red Sea.
In the Gaza Strip, the Israeli campaign, one of the bloodiest in recent history, has already cost the lives of around 25,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, and has caused widespread destruction, resulting in the forced departure of more than 80% of the 2.3 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip. Gaza.
av (DW,EFE,Lusa)
Source: Terra
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