File photo 

DAMASCUS, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Two Syrian soldiers were killed and seven others wounded on Monday by an Israeli missile attack that targeted military sites south of the Syrian capital Damascus, state news agency SANA reported.

Citing a military statement, the report said the attack was carried out from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. It added that the Syrian air defenses intercepted most of the missiles before reaching their targets.

The attack left damage to the targeted sites.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said powerful explosions were heard in the countryside of Sweida and Daraa provinces in southern Syria as a result of the Israeli attack.

The attack targeted military sites south of Damascus and the towns of al-Sheikh Maskin and Izraa in the countryside of Daraa province, according to the Britain-based watchdog group.

It said the Syrian air defenses were triggered by the attack.

Throughout the Syrian crisis, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes against Iranian targets in Syria, as well as convoys transporting weapons to the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, a Lebanese militia allegedly backed by Iran.