DAMASCUS, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Israel struck positions held by pro-Iran fighters, south of the Syrian capital of Damascus, on Monday evening, killing a senior Iranian commander, as reported by a war monitor and media.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights revealed that Israeli missiles specifically targeted locations belonging to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Iranian militias in the Sayyida Zainab area, south of Damascus.
The strikes resulted in intense explosions, accompanied by thick columns of smoke emanating from the targeted sites, which were in proximity to the Electronic Warfare Administration affiliated with the Syrian army.
Ambulances arrived at the scene upon reports of casualties, yet provided no additional details, according to the Britain-based watchdog group.
Meanwhile, al-Mayadeen TV, a pan-Arab channel based in Lebanon, claimed to have possessed information about the killing of a high-ranking military commander from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) during the Israeli shelling in the area, while a local source told Xinhua that two Iranians died in the strike, disclosing no further specifics.
Iranian media reports confirmed the slain Iranian military figure as the senior commander, Sayyed Reza Mousavi, who was also one of the longest-serving IRGC advisors in Syria and a close associate of the late Iranian top commander, Qassem Soleimani.
On Jan. 3, 2020, the U.S. military assassinated Soleimani in a drone strike near the Baghdad International Airport in Iraq. ■
