TEHRAN, March 1 (Xinhua) -- An Iranian military adviser was killed in Israeli airstrikes in the Syrian northwestern city of Banias on Friday in an attack that also killed two other foreigners.
Reza Zarei, a member of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy, was serving as a military adviser in Syria, the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) reported.
Israel carried out the airstrikes on a villa in the Batarayah area on the southern outskirts of Banias, killing Zarei and the other two foreigners staying there, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Britain-based war monitor, which tracks the conflict in Syria through a network of sources, said the attack caused large damage to the villa and several nearby homes and wounded several civilians.
Israel has not commented on the incident, but it has acknowledged carrying out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria against what it says are Iranian and Hezbollah targets.
Iran says it only provides military advice to Syria at the request of the Damascus government. Tehran denies having any regular forces in Syria. ■