Israel bombs targets in Syria near Golan Heights: monitor

Israeli soldiers patrol Kibbutz Natur in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, April 9, 2023. (AFP/FILE)
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Updated 24 April 2023
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Israel bombs targets in Syria near Golan Heights: monitor

  • Israeli ground forces bombarded location on the outskirts of Quneitra where Syrian fighters are located
  • During more than a decade of civil war in Syria, Israel launched hundreds of air strikes on its territory

BEIRUT: Israel’s army early Monday shelled a position belonging to a pro-Iran group in southern Syria near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, a war monitor said, the second such bombardment in days.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said “Israeli ground forces” bombarded a location on the outskirts of Quneitra where fighters from the Syrian Resistance to Liberate the Golan are located, without reporting any casualties.

The Hezbollah-linked, Iran-backed group was formed to launch attacks in the Israeli-occupied zone.

Syrian state media did not report the bombardment, but two local media outlets close to the government reported an “Israeli aggression” that targeted the outskirts of Quneitra.

The Israeli army had bombed positions in the Quneitra countryside on April 18, the Observatory said, targeting areas where Iran-linked groups are present, also without reporting any casualties.

Earlier this month, amid escalating violence in the region, Israel launched strikes on Syria after several rockets were fired from there and landed in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The 1,200 square kilometer (460 square mile) region — patrolled by Israeli soldiers and bordering Lebanon — was seized from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Israel later annexed it in a move that was never recognized by the international community.

During more than a decade of civil war in Syria, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on its territory, primarily targeting Iran-backed forces and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters as well as Syrian army positions.

While Israel rarely comments on the strikes it carries out on Syria, it has repeatedly said it will not allow its arch-foe Iran to extend its footprint in the war-torn country.

The Syrian army regained control of the southern part of Quneitra in mid-2018, five years after rebel fighters had overrun it.


Afghan Taliban says Pakistan bombs Kabul in fresh escalation

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Afghan Taliban says Pakistan bombs Kabul in fresh escalation

KABUL: The Afghan government said on Friday that Pakistan had carried out fresh strikes on Kabul and several other provinces.

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a post on X that Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, Paktika, and some other areas, were targeted.

Pakistan has killed at least 641 Afghan Taliban operatives and injured more than 855 in the ongoing conflict between the two sides since last month, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday.

Islamabad has said its airstrikes, which have at times directly targeted the Afghan Taliban government, are aimed at ending Kabul’s support for militants carrying out attacks on Pakistan. The Taliban has denied aiding militant groups.

Fresh clashes between the two neighbors began on Feb. 26 after Afghanistan’s border forces launched attacks against Pakistani military installations. Kabul said the attack was in retaliation for Islamabad’s airstrikes earlier in February. Both forces have since then engaged in the worst fighting between them in decades.

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have remained strained since the Afghan Taliban seized power in August 2021. Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks across the country in recent months that it blames on militants it alleges are based in Afghanistan. Kabul denies the allegations and insists that its soil is not used by militant groups for attacks against other countries.

While Afghanistan has voiced the desire for dialogue, Pakistan has repeatedly ruled out talks, saying it will continue targeting militant hideouts through “Operation Ghazab lil Haq” until Kabul desists from supporting militants.