Israeli raids target Syrian regime leader Assad’s home city

One civilian has been killed and six wounded after a rare Israeli air raid on a northeastern Syrian region home to the longtime regime leader Bashar al Assad, Syria's state media said.

Since the outbreak of Syria's civil war in 2011, Israel has routinely carried out raids in the country, mostly targeting Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah forces as well as government troops.

The attack on Latakia province occurred shortly after 1100 GMT Tuesday, a military source told Sana news agency.

"The Israeli attack left one civilian dead and six wounded, including a boy and his mother," according to the source, who added that the site was a plastics factory.

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Unusual target

They did not release exact details of the targets, but media reports indicated that the towns of Hifa and Masyaf were hit.

The Syrian air defence system was activated to counter Israeli missiles, with "some shot down", the report added.

An attack on the Latakia region is unusual.

In September 2018, Syrian anti-aircraft systems accidentally shot down a plane belonging to ally Russia – killing those on board – after being activated against nearby Israeli missiles.

Israel rarely confirms the strikes, but its army has said it hit about 50 targets in the war-torn country last year, without providing details.

Israel has escalated in recent months a so-called "shadow war" against Iranian-linked targets inside Syria, according to Western intelligence sources, who say the strikes mainly target research centres for weapons development, munitions depots and military convoys moving missiles from Syria to Lebanon.

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