Death toll rises to 11 in Israeli attack on Iranian consulate in Damascus
The number of people killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, on Monday rose to 11. Some members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are also among them.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based human rights watchdog, reported the information. The IRGC said seven of its members were killed in the attack.
Israel said it would not comment on reports of the attack. However, Iranian officials have vowed a stern response to the incident.
Tensions are already running high between Israel and Iran and its allies over the ongoing war in Gaza. The tension is expected to increase after Monday's incident.
The IRGC says seven of its members were killed in the attack, including Brigadier General Reza Zahedi and another high-ranking official, Brigadier General Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory, told AFP that eight of the dead were Iranian, two Syrian and one Lebanese. They are all fighters, none are civilians.
Hossein Akbari, Iran's envoy to Syria, however, said the death toll was lower. He said that at least five people were killed in the attack carried out by the F-35 warplane. Six missiles were fired from the fighter.
All those who were inside the building were injured. The recovery of dead bodies and injured persons from the rubble is in progress.
Iran's state television channel reported that Reza Zahedi, a senior commander of the IRGC's foreign operations wing, Quds Force, was also killed in the attack.
The Observatory said Zahedi served as a leader of the Quds Force in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon. His deputy commander, his aide and the Quds Force chief of staff were also killed in the attack. Two more members of the IRGC and two Iranian advisers were also killed in the attack.
The building targeted in the attack is located next to the Iranian embassy. It has a large picture of Qassem Soleimani on its front. Soleimani is considered the architect of Iran's military activities in the Middle East.
