Drone 'destroyed' over Syrian capital Damascus: state TV

The Damascus suburb was the site of an Israeli airstrike on Hezbollah militants last week.

1 min read

19 September, 2019

Hezbollah and Iran-backed militia bases have been frequent targets for Israeli airstrikes in Syria [Getty]

A unidentified drone has been destroyed over a suburb of the capital Damascus, Syrian state television reported on Thursday night.

While the broadcast gave no further details about the incident over the suburb of Aqraba, Israeli media reported airstrikes heard over the capital.

No one has yet claimed resonsibility for sending the drone, but Aqraba is the suburb where an Israeli airstrike killed two members of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah last month.

Israeli airstrikes and missile attacks in Syria have become frequent, with Tel Aviv saying it mostly targets bases of Iranian forces and Hezbollah.

A series of drone strikes in eastern Syria near the Iraqi border reportedly killed five troops from the Iran-backed Iraqi militia the Popular Mobilisation Forces on Wednesday.

This week has seen a number of attacks blamed on Israel on Iran-supported militias in Syria's Albukamal.

In neighbouring Lebanon, a government investigation concluded on Thursday that two Israeli drones were on an attack mission when they crashed in the capital last month, one of them armed with 4.5 kilograms (10 pounds) of explosives.