Israel says killed Hezbollah militant in Syria

Jerusalem, Oct 10 (IANS) Israel's military said its warplanes launched an airstrike in southwestern Syria, killing a Hezbollah operative.In a statement on Wednesday, the military claimed that Adham Jahout, a militant with Hezbollah's "Golan Terrorist Network" in Syria, was killed in the airstrike in the area of Quneitra near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, reports Xinhua news agency.

"As part of his role, Jahout relayed information from Syrian sources to Hezbollah and transmitted intelligence gathered on the Syrian front to facilitate operations against Israel in the Golan Heights," the military said.

Syrian state television reported earlier that a policeman was killed in the attack, the latest in a series of Israeli airstrikes in the region, which, according to Israel, are aimed at Iranian and Hezbollah targets.

Syria has repeatedly condemned the attacks, calling them violations of its sovereignty and territorial integrity. In contrast, Israel rarely acknowledged individual strikes, saying its actions were aimed at preventing the entrenchment of Iranian and Iranian-linked forces near "its borders."

It comes a day after another Israeli strike on a residential building in the Mazzeh neighbourhood of Damascus, which resulted in the deaths of seven people, including women and children, and left another 11 injured.