8 soldiers injured in Israeli airstrike on outskirts of Syria's Damascus

DAMASCUS, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Israel launched an aerial attack from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights on Thursday night against a military site near Syrian capital Damascus, injuring eight soldiers and causing material losses, the Syrian Defense Ministry said.

While the defense ministry statement spelled no further details, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported explosions were heard in the southwestern countryside of the capital Damascus, precisely along the administrative boundary shared with Quneitra Province and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

According to the Britain-based watchdog group, the explosions were accompanied by the flight of suspected Israeli drones. The observatory's director, Rami Abdul-Rahman, stated that this is the only available information at present.

This attack follows a reported decline in Israeli attacks over the past month, which the Syrian observatory's director attributed to the strikes on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1.

The targeted areas are known strongholds for elements of Hezbollah and Iranian-backed militias, according to the observatory.