Assad regime-linked television said on Wednesday there were reports of an Israeli attack on a strategic area in southern Syria where Western intelligence sources previously said Iranian-backed militias are known to be based.

The newsflash on regime-owned Ikhbariyah did not give details but said the strike was on Tel Haraa which has long been an outpost for Russian forces but was later taken by Iranian-backed militias, according to Western intelligence sources.

Shortly after Syria's conflict broke out in 2011 with anti-regime protests that were brutally repressed, Western powers imposed sanctions on the regime of Bashar Assad, including a fuel embargo.

The complex war, which has since dragged in regional and world powers including regime allies Russia and Iran, has left more than 370,000 people dead and millions displaced.