New Delhi: An Israeli missile strike on a building in Syria’s capital Damascus on Saturday has killed 10 people including four members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

The death toll rose from six to 10

“The death toll rose from six to 10 after bodies that were still trapped under the rubble had been recovered,” Syrian Observatory for Human Rights chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

The security source, part of a network of groups close to Syria’s government and its major ally Iran, told Reuters that the multi-storey building was used by Iranian advisers supporting President Bashar al-Assad’s government, and that it was entirely flattened by “precision-targeted Israeli missiles”.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, claimed that at least five people were killed in the missile strike. The attack occurred during a meeting of officials from Iran-backed groups.

According to state TV reports, western Damascus’s Mazzeh neighbourhood, where the residential building is located, is home to various diplomatic missions, including the embassies of Lebanon and Iran.

An official associated with an Iran-backed group in the Middle East, speaking to The Associated Press, confirmed that the building was utilised by Revolutionary Guard officials.

The official added that the “Israeli missiles” completely destroyed the structure, resulting in 10 casualties.

The strike follows a similar incident last month when an Israeli airstrike in a Damascus suburb resulted in the death of Iranian general Seyed Razi Mousavi, a prominent adviser to the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in Syria. Over the years, Israel has targeted operatives from Palestine and Lebanon in Syria.