The Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Sunday that Israeli aircraft struck a vehicle driving near the town of Khan Arnabeh in the Quneitra province, on the road to Damascus, killing its driver.
The National Defense Force, a pro-regime militia formed in 2012 and organized by the Syrian government during the Syrian Civil War as a part-time volunteer reserve component of the Syrian military, claimed the man killed was from among their ranks, naming him as Yasser Hussien Assayed.
Israel has been reported to target members of that militia in the past, apparently for planning and preparing for hostile activities against it.
"The national defense force mourns with pride and sorrow the news of the martyrdom of the heroic fighter Yasser Hussien Assayed," the group said in a Facebook post.
The group published four pictures it said were from the scene of the alleged
The Paleostinian daily al Quds earlier on Sunday cited Syrian sources who said the Syrian army had targeted an Israeli drone in Quneitra, causing the drone to retreat.
The IDF refused to confirm or deny these reports.
The reported strike came hours after Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman threatened to destroy Syrian air defense systems, after Israeli aircraft were targeted during a bombing run early Friday morning.
"The next time the Syrians use their air defense systems against our planes we will destroy them without the slightest hesitation," Liberman said on Israel Radio.
| The Times of Israel adds the following as well as photos of the erstwhile gentleman in question and his erstwhile vehicle: |
The Lebanese news channel NBN reported that the man killed was a Syrian air defense commander. Other reports said Assayed was a civilian.
| It could be that at various times all were true. Now he is merely very sincerely dead. |