Monitor claims 23 fighters killed in ‘Israeli’ strikes in eastern Syria

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims 23 pro-Iran fighters were killed Saturday in eastern Syria, saying “Israel” likely carried out the attack.

The monitor says five Syrians, four from Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, six Iraqis and eight Iranians, were killed in at least nine pre-dawn air strikes near the Iraqi border.

It reports the strikes targeted military positions in Albu Kamal and its surroundings in Deir Ezzor province, adding that a weapons shipment from Iraq and an ammunition warehouse were also hit.

The Observatory, which says it relies on sources inside Syria, has been accused in the past of inflating or inventing casualty numbers. Funding for the monitor, run by a single person in Britain, is unclear.

A US military official, requesting anonymity, says the “US did not conduct any defensive strikes overnight.”

Israel rarely comments on individual strikes targeting Syria, but it has repeatedly said it will not allow Iran, which backs President Bashar Assad’s government, to expand its presence there.

The Observatory also claims that four foreign fighters were killed in strikes on Aleppo’s international airport. The attack was widely attributed to Israel.