Cairo/Amman: Syria’s air defences on Monday intercepted an Israeli attack on the Al Safirah area in the southern countryside of Aleppo, Syrian state media reported.

Syrian opposition forces said in a statement the attack targeted Iranian Revolutionary Guard bases and a weapons plant in an area where Iranian military research and development activities have been disrupted by repeated Israeli strikes in the last year.

A Syrian military spokesman said missiles targeted several locations in the area, air defences downed most missiles, and the damage was being assessed.

An Israeli army spokesperson said the Israeli military does not comment on foreign reports but Israeli officials had said their country’s previous missile strikes had slowed Irans entrenchment in Syria.

Western intelligence sources say Israeli strikes on Syria are part of a shadow war approved by the United States and part of a policy the last two years to undermine Irans military power without triggering a major increase in hostilities.

Thousands of Iranian-backed militias have had a growing presence across Syria in the last year after helping Syrian President Bashar Al Assad regain territory once lost to insurgents.