Israeli special forces killed at least 16 people and struck a blow against a suspected Iranian missile factory, U.S. officials said.

Israel destroyed a secretive missile production facility in northwest Syria last week in an attack that included inserting special operations forces by helicopter to retrieve equipment and documents,

The decision to involve troops on the ground who were armed with demolition charges was made to ensure that the facility was destroyed entirely, the officials said. Israel had struck the facility repeatedly in the past, and in 2018 it assassinated a Syrian rocket scientist who worked at the center developing precision-guided munitions.