BEIRUT: Two fighters backing the Syrian government were killed late Monday in Israeli airstrikes on sites near Damascus, an NGO said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said “two pro-regime fighters were killed in Israeli strikes against military positions southwest and southeast of the capital.” “Israeli missiles destroyed arms depots of pro-Iran militias and the Lebanese Hezbollah a few kilometers from the Damas international airport and around the Kiswah area,” it said. Syria’s official news agency SANA had said earlier that the country’s air defenses had intercepted “hostile targets” in the Damascus area, without further details. “The Israeli enemy carried out an attack with missiles sent from the occupied Golan Heights... wounding a soldier and causing material damages,” SANA said. During more than a decade of civil war in Syria, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on its territory, primarily targeting Iran-backed forces and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters as well as Syrian army positions. Israel rarely comments on strikes it carries out in Syria, but has repeatedly said it will not allow its arch-foe Iran to expand its presence in the country.