Despite precautions: Iranian ‘advisor,’ 2 more killed in another alleged Israeli airstrike in Damascus

Second alleged Israeli strike against Iranian forces in Syria within 5 days

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Three militants affiliated with the Iranian regime were killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike near Damascus, Syria, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Friday morning.

Iran's Tasnim News Agency, seen as close to the regime, confirmed that an Iranian advisor named Said Alidadi was among the victims.

The other two killed were also identified as militants, with one being Iraqi and one of unknown identity, according to SOHR.

In its report, Tasnim referred to Alidadi with the honorific “Guardian of the Shrine” in reference to the shrine of Sayda Zainab in the eponymous neighborhood that is a known stronghold of the Iranian regime in Syria.

Alidadi was killed at a farm between Sayda Zainab and the nearby town of Aqraba, the same area where another alleged Israeli strike resulted in the elimination of several Lebanese Hezbollah terrorists and some Syrian citizens on Monday.

According to Syrian opposition sources, Alidadi was an expert in the development of precise drones and missiles.

He was killed in an ammunition warehouse while preparing an ammunition truck set to be delivered to Hezbollah in Lebanon, the sources added.

In addition, the airstrikes on Friday also targeted a position in the town of al-Ghazlaniyah near the Damascus International Airport, SOHR reported.

The number of alleged Israeli-targeted eliminations of members of Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Syria has sharply risen in recent months.

Since December, alleged Israeli strikes killed more than half a dozen IRGC operatives in Syria, including senior officers, according to a Reuters report on Thursday.

In reaction to their mounting losses, the IRGC ordered to reduce the presence of its senior officers in Syria, intending to rely more on Shi’ite proxy militias like Hezbollah, the report continued.

A senior regional security official briefed by Tehran told Reuters that senior Iranian commanders, along with dozens of mid-ranking officers, had already left Syria.

In response, the Lebanese Hezbollah-aligned al-Mayadeen news outlet claimed that only families of Iranian personnel had left, but that the Iranian advisors would remain in Syria.

The SOHR has compiled a list of 8 alleged Israeli attacks on targets in Syria since the beginning of 2024.

According to the report, the strikes destroyed 17 targets and killed 24 “combatants,” including six Iranian IRGC operatives, four Hezbollah terrorists, and several other members of Iranian-backed terror groups.