Israel strike kills 5 Syrian soldiers near Lebanon: state media

"The Israeli enemy carried out an aerial attack... on one of our military positions near Kfar Yabus on the Syrian-Lebanese border," SANA quoted the source as saying, adding that five Syrian soldiers were killed and one was wounded.

This is a locator map for Syria with its capital, Damascus. (Photo: AP)
This is a locator map for Syria with its capital, Damascus. (Photo: AP)

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (AFP) - An Israeli air strike on Friday killed five Syrian soldiers near the border with Lebanon, the official news agency SANA reported, citing a military source.

"The Israeli enemy carried out an aerial attack... on one of our military positions near Kfar Yabus on the Syrian-Lebanese border," SANA quoted the source as saying, adding that five Syrian soldiers were killed and one was wounded.

The raid came a day after the Israeli army said its warplanes struck "infrastructure along the Syria-Lebanon border used by Hezbollah to transfer weapons from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon".

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said Israeli warplanes targeted a crossing that links Syria's Qusayr area to Lebanon, causing "a number of wounded".

The Britain-based monitor, which relies on a network of sources on the ground, said it was the first such strike on Syria since Israel intensified its attacks on Lebanon's Hezbollah this week.