Israel says it carried out warning strike on extremists in Syria preparing to attack Druze

JERUSALEM - The Israeli military carried out a warning strike against extremists preparing to attack members of the Druze minority in the Syrian town of Sahnaya, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday in a joint statement with Defence Minister Israel Katz.

The Israeli announcement came after an eruption of deadly sectarian violence in predominantly Druze areas near Damascus, pitting Druze and Sunni Muslim against each other.

Israel views the Sunni Islamists who seized power in Damascus in December as a rising threat at its border, and has vowed to defend Syrian Druze, a minority whose faith is an offshoot of Islam and with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

Describing the strike as a warning operation, the Israeli statement also said a message was passed on to the Syrian regime - Israel expects it to act in order to prevent harm to the Druze.

A spokesman for Syrias interior ministry, speaking to Reuters from Sahnaya, the Syrian town Israel said it had targeted, said he had no indication that an attack had taken place. REUTERS

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