8 dead in Israeli strikes near Iran embassy
Israeli strikes hit an Iranian embassy annex building in Syria's capital yesterday, state media said, as a war monitor reported 8 people were killed in the building. Syria's official news agency SANA said "the Israeli attack targeted the Iranian consulate building in the Mazzeh neighbourhood of Damascus". There was no immediate comment from Israel, which has stepped up strikes on Iran-linked groups amid its Gaza offensive raging against Hamas since October 7. AFP correspondents at the site confirmed the building next to the embassy, an annex, had been levelled, in an upscale neighbourhood of Damascus. Iranian media also reported that the strikes in Damascus completely destroyed the annex building, and that the ambassador was unharmed. "Hossein Akbari, ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Damascus, and his family were not harmed in the Israeli attack," Iran's Nour news agency said. Two AFP correspondents at the site confirmed the building next to the embassy, had been razed to the ground by the strike. Britain-based group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said "Israeli missiles... destroyed the building of an annex to the Iranian embassy... in Damascus, killing eight people". Syria's official SANA news agency earlier reported that "our air defence systems confronted enemy targets in the vicinity of Damascus".
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