Iranian colonel killed in explosion near Damascus

TEHRAN - An explosion in Syria has killed an official with Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, the force said on its website Wednesday, blaming Israel for the killing.

The force identified the officer killed as Colonel Davoud Jafari, who it said was working for the Guard.

The statement warned that Israel will answer for what it called the “crime.”

Iran has been a main supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the country’s 11-year civil war and has sent thousands of Iran-backed fighters from around the region to fight alongside his forces.

Dozens of Iranian forces have been killed in the war, though Tehran has long said it has only military advisory role in Syria.

Israeli officials have said in the past that they will work on preventing Iran's entrenchment in Syria, especially in the country's south near Syria's Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.

Israel has acknowledged, however, that it targets bases of Iran-allied militant groups, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support al-Assad’s forces.