IDF Targets Syrian Army Posts after Mortar Fire

JERUSALEM, Israel -- In response to three mortar shells that fell close to Israel's border with Syria in the northern Golan Heights Tuesday morning, the IDF targeted two Syrian army posts with artillery fire.

The IDF Spokesman's Office issued a statement saying, "The IDF holds the Syrian army responsible and accountable for this blatant breach of Israeli sovereignty and will not tolerate any attacks emanating from Syria, international or not."

Earlier, the IDF confirmed the mortar shells were spillover from Syria's civil war and deployed troops in the area to investigate.

Meanwhile on Sunday, U.S. C-17 cargo planes dropped small arms ammunition to rebel forces in Syria, without specifically naming which groups.

Some 1,000 armed opposition groups in Syria commanding an estimated 100,000 fighters make up anti-government forces in Syria.

Those groups include the al-Nusra Front, Free Syrian Army and the Islamic Front, which describes itself as an "independent political, military and social formation" whose goal is "to topple the Assad regime completely and build an Islamic state."

Last week, President Obama announced a revised strategy to provide weapons and ammunition to existing rebel groups in lieu of failed efforts to establish a new fighting force. According to the president, these unnamed groups are also interested in defeating ISIS.

Meanwhile, a photographer in Damascus reported that two rockets struck the Russian Embassy earlier Tuesday as a large crowd gathered nearby to express their appreciation of Russia's intervention on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. 

According to the report, demonstrators panicked as the rockets exploded on contact.