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Beirut – At least 19 pro-Iranian militants were killed Thursday in airstrikes against their sites in eastern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The observatory suggested that “Israeli planes” launched the raids on a non-Syrian armed group loyal to Iran near the city of Albu Kamal, on the border with Iraq, in the easternmost Deir Ezzor camp. All the dead were “Pakistani nationals,” according to the observatory.
The area between the cities of Albu Kamal and Al-Mayadin in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside is under Iranian influence, through pro-Iranian groups fighting alongside Syrian regime forces.
This is not the first time that areas in Deir Ezzor have been attacked, as the Observatory counted the deaths of 14 pro-Iranian Iraqi and Afghan militants on Saturday night, in an aerial bombardment that also affected the eastern countryside.
Although the observatory reports suggest that the attacks were Israeli, it is difficult to verify this when the official Syrian media does not confirm them and Israel refuses to comment on them.
Syrian official media reported on Tuesday night, Wednesday, that the Israeli strikes targeted two military sites in Syria, one of which killed eight pro-Iranian fighters south of Damascus, according to the observatory.
In recent years, Israel has stepped up its rate of shelling in Syria, targeting primarily Syrian army positions, Iranian targets, and other Lebanese Hezbollah targets.
Israel rarely confirms the implementation of these attacks, but will repeat that it will continue to oppose what it describes as Iran’s attempts to establish its military presence in Syria.
However, the Israeli army announced last week that its fighters bombarded “military targets of the Quds Force and the Syrian army,” in what it considered a “response” after encountering explosive devices along the northern border. According to the observatory, the bombing resulted in 10 deaths, including Syrian soldiers and fighters loyal to Iran.
In a letter to the Security Council on Wednesday, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Ardan, called for “immediate action to be taken to remove Iranian forces from Syrian territory.”
He said: “The Syrian regime still allows Iran and its proxies to use its lands, military facilities and infrastructure.”
Since 2011, Syria has been living a bloody conflict that has killed more than 380,000 people, caused massive damage to infrastructure and productive sectors, and caused the displacement and displacement of millions of people within and outside the country.
