Strikes conducted overnight by Israel in Syria left three fighters from Iran-backed groups dead, a war monitor reported Thursday.

 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based organization with an extensive network on the ground, was not immediately able to provide the casualties' nationalities.

 

Syrian state media had reported an "Israeli aggression" overnight against targets in the south of the country, adding that its anti-air defense system had intercepted most missiles.

 

Israel routinely carries out raids in Syria, mostly against targets affiliated with Iran in what it says is a bid to prevent its archfoe from securing further foothold along its borders.

 

Iran has members of its own military as well as fighters from a variety of nationalities fighting with militias it supports deployed across Syria.

 

Last month, Israel said it had hit about 50 targets in the neighboring country in 2020.

 

The Israeli army has carried out hundreds of air and missile strikes on Syria since the civil war broke out in 2011, targeting Iranian and Lebanese Hizbullah forces as well as government troops.

 

Israel rarely acknowledges individual strikes, but has done so when responding to what it describes as aggression inside Israeli territory.