Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard says on its website that two of its members stationed in Syria have been killed in an Israeli air strike. The report on the Guard's news portal identified the two members as Mohammad Ali Ataei Shourcheh and Panah Taghizadeh, and said they were carrying out an advisory mission in Syria. It did not elaborate on their rank, or the area where they were killed. Syrian state media, quoting an unnamed military official, said Israeli air strikes hit several areas on the outskirts of the capital Damascus early on Saturday. The strikes resulted in only "material losses," the report added. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a United Kingdom-based opposition war monitor, said the strikes hit the southern Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab where "there are military forces working with the Lebanese (militant group) Hezbollah". It said the strike killed two Syrian citizens and two foreigners and wounded five others. Iran's military presence in Syria has been a major concern for Israel, which has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment along its northern border. Syria has accused Israel of carrying out hundreds of strikes on targets in government-controlled parts in recent years - but Israel has rarely acknowledged such strikes. Since the Israel-Hamas war began, Israel has carried out several strikes targeting Syria and put the international airports of Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo out of commission for more than a month. Australian Associated Press
