Eight killed in unidentified plane strike on Iranian-backed militias at Syrian-Iraqi border
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Damascus, January 11: In Syria, eight militiamen are reported to be killed when unidentified planes struck targets near the border with Iraq yesterday. The attack comes amid soaring tensions between the US and Iran.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, the planes targeted positions belonging to pro-Iran militias in the Boukamal area. The Britain-based organization said the planes struck, among other targets, weapons depots and vehicles belonging to the militias. An Iraqi security official said, warplanes targeted two vehicles carrying missiles on the Syrian side of the border.
The militias have also repositioned heavy weapons away from their main command centers in the area. In the town of Mayadeen, fighters with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had seized homes belonging to residents, including three villas, to house commanders and fighters.
The U.S. also has taken up a defensive stance at its military bases in Syria, sending in reinforcements and military equipment from Iraq and bolstering ground and air defenses, report said. SOHR says that the Russian president told the head of the Syrian regime Bashar al-Assad about the United States intention to close Tehran-Beirut road, which passes through Albu Kamal.
#SOHR At least eight of non-#Syrian citizens killed in air strikes targeted #Iranian-backed militia's armories and vehicles at the #Syrian- #Iraqi borderhttps://t.co/y4gBZHD2Op
— المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان (@syriahr) January 10, 2020
The area struck is key to a land corridor for Tehran that links Iran across Iraq and Syria through Lebanon. In September, large strikes in the same area that destroyed major parts of a weapons storehouse known as the Imam Ali compound were attributed to Israel.
Israel views Iran as its greatest threat, and has acknowledged carrying out scores of airstrikes in Syria in recent years aimed primarily at preventing the transfers of sophisticated weapons, including guided missiles, to the Iran-backed Hezbollah.