At least 10 personnel were reported killed early Tuesday morning (Sept. 17) in an air strike by unidentified aircraft on a position along the Syrian-Iraqi border near the town of Albukamal.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 10 pro-Iranian fighters were killed in the early-morning drone strike, which allegedly targeted a military training base and a weapons storehouse.
The attack comes on the heels of a similar strike carried out a week earlier in the same location.
The attacked storehouses are located in a military base (, according ), 5 km West of the Syria-Iraq border of –. The mentioned border is still closed, but it seems to be ready to be soon. pic.twitter.com/KkDNrHFfxT
— ImageSat Intl. (@ImageSatIntl)
The position is held by Iranian-backed proxy fighters of the “Hashid Shaabi” Popular Mobilization Force – an umbrella group including Iranian-backed militias — according to a source who spoke with Reuters, and said the attack was carried out by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).
An Iraqi news outlet attributed the attack to Israel, however.
Hezbollah-linked al-Mayadeen reported last week that Israeli combat planes struck eight an Iranian military compound that included a weapons warehouse and other structures in the same area, killing 21, including nearly a dozen Iranian military personnel.
The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that Syria’s ambassador to Iraq met last week with the Iraqi official responsible for border crossings in Baghdad to discuss ways to “accelerate” reopening of the Albukamal crossing between the two countries.
Albukamal – the area and the city — is located in the eastern suburbs of Deir Ez-Zour governorate, which contains 15 villages and towns. Just two years ago, hundreds of thousands of Syrians were displaced from the area due to the savage civil war that was fought there. More than 400 civilians were killed, including at least 124 children.