At least 57 killed in airstrikes targeting Iran-backed forces in Syria

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Israel carried out a series of airstrikes in eastern Syria early Wednesday, targeting Iran-backed forces and killing at least 57 fighters and wounding many others, the Associated Press (AP) reports.

Although Israel rarely confirms or denies its operations, a senior US official with knowledge of the attack told AP that the strikes were carried out with intelligence provided by the United States. The official said the strikes were directed at warehouses being used to store and stage Iranian weapons.

Moreover, the official told AP, the warehouses had been used as a pipeline for equipment needed to support Iran’s nuclear program.

According to Syria’s state news agency SANA, the strikes hit the towns of Deir el-Zour, Mayadeen and Boukamal on the border with Iraq. “They burned Iranian positions in Deir el-Zour,” Omar Abu Laila, a Europe-based activist from Syria’s eastern Deir el-Zour province told AP. Laila said the strikes had targeted at least 16 buildings, warehouses, or bases for Iranian, Lebanese, and Iraqi militias in Boukamal, Mayadeen and Deir el-Zour.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 14 Syrian troops were among 57 people who were killed. The remainder of those who died were Iran-backed fighters from Iraq and Afghanistan, the SOHR said. The death toll could not be independently confirmed but, if verified, would make this one of the deadliest strikes in 10 years, AP said.

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