Senior Iran Revolutionary Guard officials killed in Syria strike blamed on Israel

Four senior members of Iran's security forces have been killed in a suspected air strike on the Syrian capital.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard blamed Israel for the attack, which it said killed four military advisers as well as a number of Syrian forces.

Israel has not commented. For years it has carried out strikes on Iranian-linked targets in Syria.

Such strikes have intensified since the Israel-Gaza war began following Hamas's 7 October attacks on Israel.

Senior figures among the Revolutionary Guard - a major military, political and economic force in Iran - have been present in Syria since the civil war began there in 2011, helping to support the regime of President Bashar al-Assad against widespread rebellion to his rule.

Saturday's attack is understood to have taken place in the Mazzeh neighbourhood, south-west Damascus, an area home to a military airport, as well as the UN headquarters in Damascus, embassies and restaurants.