BEIRUT: A Syrian war-monitoring group said on Friday that suspected Israeli strikes hit a military base overnight in central Syria housing fighters from Lebanon’s Hezbollah and others from factions allied with the Damascus government.

It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties at the Dabaa air base and surrounding areas in central Homs province, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The base, north of al-Qusair near the border with Lebanon, captured by Hezbollah in 2013 from rebels, marking a turning point in the group’s role in the Syrian war.

Syria’s state media reported late on Thursday that a military base in central Syria came under attack from “enemy fire,” and that Syrian air defences responded. State news agency SANA reported loud explosions at the Dabaa air base.

The Israeli military is believed to be behind dozens of air strikes in recent years against Hezbollah, Iran, and Syrian military positions. The US and Israeli governments have viewed Iran’s role in Syria as a threat to Israel and have threatened action.

Syria’s government forces have relied on support from the Iranian-backed militant Hezbollah group and other regional militias to fight Syrian rebels and fighters of the militant Islamic State group. The conflict is now in its eighth year.

The Observatory also raised the death toll from Wednesday night’s air strikes in eastern Syria to 14 pro-government fighters, all but two foreign nationals. Syrian-run media blamed the US-led coalition fighting IS for the strikes on military positions between the towns of Boukamal and Hmeimeh in the eastern Deir el-Zour province.

The Observatory said it also suspects coalition aircraft were behind the attack but the Pentagon said it had “no information” to substantiate such reports.

The US-led coalition and the Syrian opposition it backs, as well as Syrian government troops and allied militias, are separately fighting IS remnants still holed up in the country’s east. Iraqi forces have also collaborated with both the Syrian government and the US-led coalition against IS.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2018