4-5 minutes
No details were available on the extent of damages or injuries.
Unidentified aircraft targeted Iranian militias near the Syrian-Iraqi
border in the Deir Ezzor area of eastern Syria on Saturday, according to
Deir Ezzor 24.
Two sites were targeted in villages outside the city of Al-Mayadeen,
according to the STEP news agency. One belonging to the Iranian
Revolutionary Guards Corp and another belonging to the Shi'ite
Fatemiyoun militia.
No details were available regarding the extent of the damage caused or what injuries were sustained.
Dozens of militants and Syrian regime forces defected and Iranian
militias were put on high alert after a series of airstrikes targeted
their positions in areas near Al-Bukamal in the Deir Ezzor area of
eastern Syria earlier this month.
Multiple people of non-Syrian nationality have been killed in the
earlier strikes, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
(SOHR).
At least three members of a pro-Iranian militia were killed in alleged
IAF strikes on the Tiyas Military Airbase, also known as the T-4
Airbase, in Syria’s Homs province northeast of Damascus two weeks ago.
SOHR reported that the strikes destroyed an ammunition depot as well as
military vehicles and a building under construction at the base.
The alleged strikes marked the first time in 2020 that IAF jets bombed
military targets belonging to Iran west of Syria’s Deir Ezzor and came
several hours after two Syrian Air Force cargo flights from Tehran
landed at the base.
Simultaneously, explosions were heard in the Deir Ezzor area of eastern Syria near sites belonging to Syrian regime forces.
The strikes at T-4 came several hours after the Israeli army’s annual
intel assessment was released where it was noted that the targeted
assassination of Iran’s Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani provides a
significant opportunity to counter Tehran’s growing aggression in the
region.
SOHR reported earlier this month that Iran-backed militias had
reportedly evacuated their headquarters in Al-Bukamal and spread
throughout orchards on the banks of the Euphrates River. The IRGC is
reportedly seizing civilian houses in the Deir Ezzor area in eastern
Syria.
The land crossing between Iraq and Syria at Al-Bukamal that reopened in
November was closed again earlier this month according to Deir Ezzor 24.
SOHR reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin told Syrian
President Bashar Assad that the US intended to close the Tehran-Beirut
road that passes through Al-Bukamal.
Over 20 Syrian fighters defected from an Iranian-backed militia in the
area of Al-Mayadin due to fears of attacks by ISIS and the United
States, according to The Observatory. Dozens of the Syrian regime force
members and a pro-regime militia in Deir Ezzor defected and moved to
areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a largely Kurdish
force, after repeated airstrikes on positions in Al-Bukamal carried out
by the coalition and unidentified aircraft.
Militias along the Iraq-Syria border have been on high alert since the
strike that killed former IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani.
Multiple airstrikes have targeted Iranian forces and militias in eastern
Syria in the past few months. A strategic border crossing between Iraq
and Syria and the Iranian-controlled Imam Ali military base is located
in the border town of Al-Bukamal.
Anna Ahronheim contributed to this report.
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