Damascus, Sep 27 (IANS): An Israeli airstrike targeted a bridge near the Matrabah crossing on the Syria-Lebanon border, injuring eight people and an unknown number of civilians, media reported.

Four of the injured were border-control policemen, while the other four were customs officers, the report said on Thursday, adding that the airstrike also damaged the bridge.

It is the first Israeli raid on the Syrian border region since Israel escalated its military operations in Lebanon on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Matrabah crossing, linking the al-Qusayr region in the central Syrian province of Homs to Lebanon, has recently been used by displaced Lebanese seeking refuge in Syria.

Lebanese military sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that "Israeli warplanes fired eight air-to-ground missiles at four border crossings in the Bekaa region, destroying a bridge and several ferries linking the Lebanese side to the Syrian side," without specifying the casualties.

The targeted crossings are mainly used by Lebanese and Syrian residents in the overlapping border villages, the sources said.

This marks the first Israeli raid on the Syrian border region since Israel escalated its military operations in Lebanon on Monday.