Israel airstrikes earthquake hit Syria killing 13 civilians

New Delhi: Israeli airstrikes targeted a residential neighbourhood in central Damascus early Sunday, Syrian state news reported.

Syrian state media agency SANA, citing a source in the Damascus police command, reported that an unspecified number of people had been killed and wounded.

However, several unverified accounts claim that a residential seven-storied building was hit leaving 13 people dead.

Loud explosions were heard over the capital around 12.30 am local time, and SANA reported that Syrian air defences were "confronting hostile targets in the sky around Damascus."

There was no immediate statement from Israel on the attack. Israeli airstrikes frequently target sites in the vicinity of Damascus. The Saturday night strikes were the first since a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria on February 6.

The last reported attack on Damascus was on January 2, when the Syrian army reported that Israel's military fired missiles toward the international airport of Syria's capital early Monday, putting it out of service and killing two soldiers and wounding two others.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, but rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations.

Israel has acknowledged, however, that it targets bases of Iran-allied militant groups, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces.

The Israeli strikes come amid a wider shadow war between Israel and Iran. The attacks on airports in Damascus and Aleppo were over fears they were being used to funnel Iranian weaponry into the country. (AP)