5 Dead in Israeli Strike on 'Lebanon-Bound Arms Shipment'

An Israeli missile strike killed five pro-Iran militiamen near Damascus on Saturday, a war monitor said, while state media said two Syrian soldiers were wounded in the attack.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike "destroyed a Hizbullah and Iranian weapons and ammunition" convoy heading towards Lebanon.

At least five pro-Iranian fighters were killed and several wounded, said the war monitor.

Earlier state news agency SANA, quoting a military source, said two Syrian soldiers were wounded after explosions were heard in the Syrian capital.

"The Israeli enemy fired a salvo of surface-to-surface missiles from northern occupied Palestine targeting positions near Damascus," SANA said.

"Our anti-aircraft defenses were activated and were able to hit some of the enemy missiles," the source said, adding that the attack wounded two soldiers and caused damage.

AFP correspondents in Damascus heard multiple explosions at around midday.

Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Israel has routinely carried out air strikes inside Syria, mostly targeting Syrian government troops as well as allied Iranian and Lebanese Hizbullah forces.

It is rare for Israel to carry out strikes on Syrian targets during daylight hours.

The Israeli military rarely acknowledges individual strikes but has said repeatedly that it will not allow Syria to become a stronghold of its arch-foe Iran.

On October 14, an Israeli air strike on Iranian positions in central Syria killed nine fighters allied to the Syrian government.