“At least 15 people, including a leader, were killed and about 20 others were injured with varying degrees of severity … as a result of airstrikes carried out by warplanes of unknown origin on Iranian militia sites in Deir ez-Zor city and the countryside of al-Bukamal near the Syrian-Iraqi border,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor.
The strikes targeted weapons depots and compounds of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the province, according to the Observatory.
They also come with regional tensions at a boiling point against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war, two days after an Israeli airstrike on southern Beirut killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on regime-controlled areas of Syria throughout its over a decade-long civil war, often claiming to target pro-Iran militias, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah group which supports the Syrian army.
Israel rarely confirms strikes attributed to it in Syria but has repeatedly warned that it would not tolerate its arch-rival Iran gaining a foothold there.
The strikes have increased since October 7, when Palestinian Hamas militants launched an unprecedented, large-scale attack on Israeli territory that prompted significant retaliation.
Israel also frequently targets Hezbollah supply routes through the Syria-Lebanon border.
