Iranian commander killed in Israeli strike on Syria

(Patria) - An Iranian commander was killed yesterday in an alleged Israeli airstrike on Syria, Iranian state media reported.

Reza Zarei, a "military advisor" in the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was killed following an attack on the Syrian coastal city of Baniyas, the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency reported.

According to Radio Free Europe, he was said to be a member of the IRGC navy.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in the United Kingdom, announced that the attack occurred at dawn yesterday, and that the attackers targeted a villa, killing the Iranian commander and two other non-Syrian individuals.

According to them, several civilians were also injured in the attack.

The IRGC has not commented on reports of the death of one of its commanders. Iran refers to its troops in Syria as "military advisors".

At least 11 IRGC members, including an Afghan fighter from the Fatemiyoun Brigade, have been killed in Israeli attacks in Syria and Lebanon since the outbreak of the war in the Gaza Strip in October.

Israel launched an offensive on the Palestinian enclave in response to a multi-pronged attack by Hamas, which the US and EU have designated as a terrorist group.

Iran supported Hamas's attack but denied involvement in its planning. US intelligence has suggested that Iranian leaders were surprised by the attack.

Iran's regional allies have been targeting Israeli and US interests in the Middle East following Israel's attack on Gaza. However, armed groups they support have reduced their attacks on US bases after a series of US strikes last month, the New York Times writes.

In 2013, Iran stood in defense of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad when his rule was challenged during the Syrian civil war.

Hundreds of IRGC commanders and officers are believed to be present in Syria, where Tehran has also built a large network of paramilitary groups, largely composed of Afghans and Pakistanis.