AMMAN, April 27 (Reuters) - An Israeli strike on Thursday hit an arms supply hub operated by the Lebanese Hezbollah group near Damascus airport where regular supplies of weapons from Tehran are sent by commercial and military cargo planes, a regional intelligence source said.

The depot handles a significant amount of weapons that Tehran, a major regional ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, sends regularly by air, the source who requested anonymity said, without giving further details.

The source said the arms depot gets a major part of the weapons supplied to an array of Iranian backed militias, led by Hezbollah, which have thousands of fighters engaged in some of the toughest fronts against Syrian rebels.



(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Nick Macfie) ((suleiman.al-khalidi@thomsonreuters.com; +962 79 5521407; Reuters Messaging: suleiman.al-khalidi.reuters.com@thomsonreuters.net))