' fill='%230E4F97'%3E%3Cg id='Group-5' transform='translate(370.000000, 11.000000)'%3E%3Cg id='avatar' transform='translate(6.000000, 4.000000)'%3E%3Ccircle id='Oval' cx='8' cy='4' r='4'%3E%3C/circle%3E%3Cpath d='M7.12864205,10 L8.87135795,10 C11.558649,10 14.0087196,11.5384024 15.1762205,13.958831 L16,15.6666667 L16,15.6666667 L15.3374858,17.5134983 C15.228016,17.8186575 14.9774027,18.051811 14.6651459,18.1389975 L8,20 L8,20 L1.33485405,18.1389975 C1.02259733,18.051811 0.771984007,17.8186575 0.662514216,17.5134983 L0,15.6666667 L0,15.6666667 L0.823779545,13.958831 C1.99128041,11.5384024 4.44135104,10 7.12864205,10 Z' id='Rectangle'%3E%3C/path%3E%3C/g%3E%3C/g%3E%3C/g%3E%3C/g%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Strikes reported on Iran-backed militia on Syria-Iraq border, 10 said killed
UK-based Syrian war monitor says several dead in bombing by unidentified UAVs in area previously hit by airstrikes attributed to Israel
Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.
Unknown unmanned aircraft attacked posts of Iranian-backed fighters in eastern Syria near the Iraqi border in the predawn hours of Tuesday morning, killing at least 10 people, according to Arabic media reports.
Some Syrian and Iraqi outlets said Israel was suspected of being behind the strikes, which targeted positions controlled by Shiite militias in the Boukamal region of Syria. There were no such public allegations by Syrian or Iraqi officials.
According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 10 pro-Iranian fighters were killed in the early morning airstrike by unmanned aerial vehicles, which reportedly targeted a training camp and ammunition storehouse.
The Israeli military has been accused of conducting air raids on Iran-backed militias in the Boukamal region in the past, including earlier this month in a series of airstrikes in which at least 18 militiamen were reportedly killed.
The Tuesday blasts reportedly targeted a base belonging to the Popular Mobilization Force, an umbrella group of largely Iran-backed militias.
The Observatory and activist collective Deir Ezzor 24 said the strikes occurred near a newly constructed, but not yet operational Syrian border crossing with Iraq. The opening of the crossing, planned by Iraq and Syria, had been postponed several times in recent weeks.
On September 9, aircraft also targeted an arms depot and posts of Iranian-backed militias in the Boukamal region, killing at least 18 fighters and destroying at least eight storehouses. A Syrian security official said at the time that Israeli jets were behind the attack but denied there were casualties.
Apparently in response to that strike, an Iran-backed militia in Syria fired several rockets toward northern Israel several hours later, but they fell short of the border, the army said, laying the attack at the door of operatives of a Shiite militia operating under the command of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force.
The Israeli military has warned Syria’s Assad regime that it would “pay the price” for allowing Iran and its proxies to use Syria as a base of operations against the Jewish state, either by turning a blind eye to their actions or by actively cooperating with them.
Since mid-July, six arms depots and training camps belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces have been targeted in apparent attacks.
The Saudi-owned Al Arabiya network has reported that the Lebanese Hezbollah terror group also maintains a presence in the Boukamal region.
The PMF has blamed both Israel and the US for the string of blasts and drone sightings at its bases. Israeli officials have not publicly commented on these allegations.
Agencies contributed to this report.
