Israel strikes Syrian army positions near Aleppo

Israel bombed Syrian army positions in the Al-Safira area southeast of Aleppo city on Thursday.

An air defense base and warehouse were targeted, said local sources.

A number of people in the area were killed and injured in around 10 airstrikes, according to preliminary reports.

While Israeli soldiers were conducting a landing operation with aircraft, clashes were taking place between them and armed elements in the area.

Defense industry facilities and a military research center of the ousted Bashar Assad regime are located in Sefire.

The collapse of the 61-year-old Baathist regime in Syria on Dec. 8 coincided with an escalation of Israeli military attacks on the country.

The Israeli army began destroying military infrastructure and facilities left by the regime's army and expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights.

Israeli forces, which entered the buffer zone around the Golan Heights, carried the occupation further and penetrated as far as 25 kilometers (15.53 miles) from the capital Damascus.

Israel has been occupying Syria's Golan Heights since 1967. The 1974 Disengagement Agreement between Israel and Syria established the borders of the buffer zone and demilitarized zone.