ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The World Health Organization on Tuesday said that a member of its team in Syria was killed in airstrikes launched hours earlier in the country’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province, which also killed 16 pro-Iran militiamen.
Emad Shehab, was working as an engineer with the organization and was the focal point for water, sanitation, and hygiene in the city. Shehab was killed when his building was struck by the airstrikes launched in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
“His untimely death is a stark reminder of the ongoing violence and suffering endured by the people of Syria. He will be greatly missed,” WHO Director-General Tedris Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
My colleagues and I are heartbroken at the tragic loss of another one of our own in an airstrike in #Syria this morning, engineer Emad Shehab. We extend our deepest condolences to his family.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) March 26, 2024
Emad served as the @WHO water and sanitation focal point in Deir-ez-Zor. His untimely… pic.twitter.com/vG1A2IRsid
UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said at least 16 pro-Iranian militiamen were killed in the strikes. Iranian media reported the death of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) adviser in the strikes.
Local news outlet DeirEzzor24 said the strikes targeted military and security headquarters of the IRGC in the province, seriously injuring an IRGC commander known as Hajj Askar.
Syria’s foreign ministry condemned the strikes and blamed Washington for switching roles with Israel, accusing both of seek to cause regional instability.
Washington on Tuesday evening denied carrying out the strikes.
“We did not carry out air strikes in Syria last night,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on regime-controlled areas of Syria throughout its 12-year civil war, often claiming to strike pro-Iran militias such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah group that supports the Syrian army. The US has also carried several rounds of retaliatory strikes on IRGC positions in Syria following attacks by Iran-backed militia groups on American bases in the country and neighboring Iraq.
Iran says IRGC officers serve an advisory role in Syria at the invitation of the government to prop up President Bashar al-Assad during a decade-long civil war. Iran-backed militia groups maintain a strong foothold in Deir ez-Zor, particularly in the area near the Iraqi border.
