DAMASCUS, Syria, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Six Hezbollah fighters were killed by an air strike within Syria allegedly launched by Israel on Sunday.
Jihad Mughniyeh, 20, and Mohamad Issa, chief of Hezbollah operations in Syria, were killed in the attack.
Mughniyeh was the son of a Hezbollah military leader who was killed in 2008. Unnamed sources said an Israeli helicopter that launched the attack on targets who were "terrorists who intended to attack Israel," military sources told Ynet news.
"This is the seventh time Israel attacked targets close to its borders since the war in Syria started," Al Jazeera reporter Nisreen el-Shamayleh said.
Hezbollah, a political and military organization which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, recently warned Israel the group may retaliate for Israel's repeated air strikes in Syria.
Israel claims its air strikes prevent Syrian and Iranian weapons from reaching Hezbollah.
